Trying
by FawnChara
Summary: Jack is a sophomore in high school and on the verge of losing his little sister, so what will happen when he does? High school AU. Warnings inside. Adopted from xKizzyy.
1. Chapter 1: Diagnosis

**A/N: Hello everyone! I'm really excited to get started on this story, which I have adopted from ****xKizzyy****. I am currently rewriting it, so it will take time to get the chapters out. I'm also changing some plot details to hopefully make it less confusing. The original version of this story is still on her profile, so go check it out! I do hope you enjoy. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 1: Diagnosis**

Jack walked slowly down the halls of his high school, taking in his surroundings. The walls were an off-white colour, which looked in desperate need of repainting. Purple lockers lined the crowded hallway as students stood around, talking loudly in groups. Several of the more studious teens grabbed their textbooks from their lockers and hurried off to class.

Jack ducked out of the way as a group of taller guys walked by. They gave him funny looks as they passed, but Jack was used to that. His odd white hair usually attracted that sort of attention. That, and the fact that he was tiny for a guy. He was tall, sure, being 5 ft. 8 and all, but when it came to weight, that was another story entirely. Jack couldn't weigh more than 100 lbs. in his current state.

To his disappointment, it wasn't just the jocks that looked at him funny. Several other groups of people stared directly at him and spoke to each other in hushed whispers. Trying not to be self conscious, Jack shoved his hands in his hoodie and picked up his pace.

Though he really couldn't blame his new schoolmates for staring at him. It must have been weird for them to see a white haired young teen, and not an older person. Also, he was still new. After all, Jack had only transferred to this school at the beginning of his sophomore year.

Going by the looks his new schoolmates gave him; it would be difficult for Jack to make friends. But he was used to that; he never really fit in at any of his old schools anyways. Besides, he didn't want to make friends here when his sister was still in the hospital. The hallway cleared just as the bell rung, and Jack knew that he would be late to class again. Sighing, Jack begrudgingly made his way to first period.

He opened the door to see his teacher giving him a silent glare. "Sorry," he said to the short plump woman as he grabbed the tardy note from her.

"That's your fourth tardy this week," Mrs. Maier said sternly. "One more and you'll be getting a detention. Now get to your seat!"

Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes. This was only his second week at school, and he was already getting in trouble.

He walked to the back of the classroom and sat down in the only available seat. His teacher had added it there last Monday since there were no other empty desks. Jack didn't mind sitting in the back, since it's quiet and no one really bothered him. Mrs. Maier began the lesson, and Jack actually tried to pay attention, but his mind kept drifting off to his sister and family.

His mom was a kind person, and was always very supportive of Jack and his sister. His father wasn't in the picture anymore, and Jack didn't remember much about him. Though he was really close to his little sister, Emma. They would always play and go ice-skating together, up until Emma got sick. The whole reason they moved from Burgess to Allentown five months ago was to get better treatment for her. Emma was only seven when everything started.

At first, Jack's family thought that Emma had simply caught a cold. But as she remained sick for a nearly a week, they thought it was the flu. Concerned, Jack's mom took Emma to their local clinic, but the physicians there had no idea what was wrong with her. They referred Emma to a larger hospital in the next city over, which was Allentown, Pennsylvania. The cost for the hospital there was very high, so it took a couple of days for his mom to save up enough money to take Emma there. Meanwhile, Emma's condition kept worsening.

Emma was at St. Luke's Medical Centre for nearly a month before Jack's mom decided to move the family over to be closer to her. Since Jack's uncle lived here, he was willing to let them stay there with him until they found a more permanent residence. Several weeks had passed since then, and Jack and his mom had finally moved into their own house. Emma has been in the hospital for awhile now, with the doctors running all sorts of different tests, and they still don't know what's wrong with her. The doctors had negotiated with Jack's mom, as they were willing to pay for the medical expenses for all the confusion.

But still, Jack can't help but worry for his sister.

A shrill ring interrupted Jack from his thoughts, which he realized to be the bell, meaning that class was over. His classmates began gathering their belongings and leaving the room, so Jack grabbed his backpack and followed. He hadn't even bothered to take his textbook out for this class. He really didn't care about paying attention in this school, since it was all temporary. As soon as Emma gets better, they'd be able to move back to Burgess.

"Hey Jack!" He heard someone yell, and Jack sighed.

He didn't have to look back to see who it was; he recognized the voice. It was Eric, a jock that had picked on Jack ever since he transferred here. So he just ignored him and kept walking, albeit slightly faster. It didn't matter that Eric harassed him in the middle of the hallway with other students walking to their next classes; no one cared that Jack was being bullied, not even the teachers. Jack's only hope was to get to his next class quickly and avoid Eric if possible.

"I heard your sister is sick," Eric continued in a mocking tone, making Jack stop dead in his tracks. How had this jerk found out? Jack hadn't told anyone, but all his teachers knew, so one of them might've said something.

"Don't ignore me when I'm talking to you!" Eric yelled, grabbing Jack by the shoulders and spinning him around to face him.

"Just leave me alone, Eric." Jack narrowed his eyes, trying to look threatening as he pushed the jock away.

Eric backed off, but a cocky smirk spread across his face. "What, are you scared that your sister won't make it?"

"I'm going to be late to class again," Jack told him sternly. "Go away."

"Fine," Eric sneered as he roughly shoved Jack into the lockers.

Jack winced in pain while Eric grabbed his backpack and dumped all his papers and books out. The passing period was still going on, so many students walked over the pile of papers, spreading them around and ripping several of the pages. With one final smirk of satisfaction, Eric left.

The tardy bell finally rang, and the hallway cleared, revealing all of Jack's papers strewn throughout the entire hallway. He had no idea that it had gotten this bad, and with a heavy sigh, Jack began to gather his stuff.

"Guess I'll be late to class again," Jack muttered. Since he was already late to his next class, Jack figured that he might as well take his time collecting his papers.

Finally with most of his papers stuffed in his bag, Jack arrived at his second period.

"Jack Frost!" the ever-strict Mrs. Mellingham yelled.

"Sorry I-" Jack quickly tried to stutter out an apology.

"Do you have a tardy note for me? Any reason to why you are so late?" Mrs. Mellingham was having none of his excuses today, apparently.

"Uh..." Jack's mind went blank. He heard a chuckle to his right, and Jack fixed Eric with a glare. Of course the obnoxious jock was in his class.

The woman's eyebrow twitched in obvious irritation. "Speak up!"

"Not really...?"

His teacher sighed. "Then I will be forced to put this down as an unexcused tardy. Since this is your fifth one, come after school for detention."

Jack tried to stifle his sigh. "Yes ma'am."

"Now hurry and take your seat. This is a very important lecture that will be on the test next week. So pay attention!"

Jack slunk over to his seat in the back if the class. He didn't even bother to try and pay attention to this lesson as he stared blankly out the window.

Ω Ω Ω

School had finally ended, and the hallways were flooded with students trying to get home. Everyone was free to leave, all except for Jack who had to go to Mrs. Melligham's class for detention. On his way there, his phone started buzzing. He grabbed it out of his pocket and saw that it was his mom.

"Hello?" Jack said as he clicked the answer button.

_"Jack, you're going to have to walk home from school today, okay?" _Her words came out all at once, rushed.

"What? Why?" Jack's brows furrowed in confusion.

_"I got a call just now from the hospital and the doctors finally have a diagnosis for Emma. I'm on my way to the hospital right now."_

Jack couldn't believe it. After all this time they'd finally be able to start treating Emma properly. "Really? That's great! What does she have?"

There were a few muffled sounds before his mom responded, _"I need to go now. Call me when you get home."_

His phone beeped, letting Jack know that the call had ended. Placing his phone back in his pocket, Jack realized that he was now late for the meeting with his teacher. He sped down the hallway, not wanting Mrs. Mellingham to get any angrier with him than she already was. He reached his second period class in a few minutes, and he was dreading his confrontation with the teacher.

"Jack, there you are," Mrs. Mellingham said curtly from her sitting position at her desk.

"Sorry I'm late, I got a ca-"

"Please don't try and come up with an excuse." She stood and crossed the room towards him. "You come to class 10 minutes late without a note, and when I tell you to serve detention after school you come late to that as well?"

Jack flinched from her rising voice. "I'm sorry, my siste-"

Mrs. Mellingham held up a had for him to stop. "Just sit in here for the next 30 minutes and don't talk. I'll be right in the other room if you need me." She walked out, seeming done with dealing with Jack in general.

Jack sighed. But at least he could work on his homework now. He opened his backpack and sorted through the many messed up papers (thanks Eric) until he found his math assignment. Plugging in his headphones, Jack began working.

Half an hour later, Mrs. Mellingham came back in. "So we won't have this problem anymore, right?" she asked strictly as Jack gathered his belongings.

"Huh?"

"With your lateness issue, Jack. One more tardy and I'll have to send you to the office and a phone call to your parents."

"Oh uh- yeah. It won't happen again," Jack said, trying to get out of the room. Now that his detention was over, he needed to go see Emma!

"Would you mind telling me why you were late, now? No more excuses," Mrs. Mellingham insisted.

_I wasn't making up excuses earlier_, Jack thought bitterly. _But fine, she wants the truth? Then I'll give her the truth. _"My little sister is in the hospital and I got a call from my mom about her condition."

His teacher's brown eyes softened for a moment as she seemed to consider his answer. "All right, you may go."

Jack silently thanked her before booking it out of the school. He only lived five minutes away from the school by car, but it took at least twenty while walking. It was a little chilly out, but that was to be expected as August was nearing its end. Jack shivered and picked up his pace, desperate to get home.

He finally arrived at his house a few minutes after five. Jack had been hoping that his mom would have been home from the hospital with news by now, but he knew it was a long shot. Remembering his earlier conversation with his mother, Jack went inside and called her.

"Hey mom, I'm home. How's Emma?"

_"Well..."_

Jack's heart immediately sank at her strained tone. Her voice was broken, and she was sniffing constantly. Neither of which were good signs.

_"The doctors finally have a diagnosis..."_

"And?" Jack prompted when it seemed like she wouldn't continue.

_"Emma,"_ her voice cracked, _"has cancer."_

The room Jack was in dropped a few degrees. The silence was so overwhelming it felt as if Jack was drowning.

_"Chronic myelogenous leukemia to be exact,"_ she paused, taking a few deep breaths before continuing, _"It's very uncommon in children, so the doctors had no idea... But they did some blood tests, and, and..."_ Jack heard her voice break into a sob. After a few moments, she found her voice again. "_Emma's sleeping right now... But do you want to come see her?"_

Ω Ω Ω

Jack took a bus to the hospital. On the way, his mom filled him in with the rest of the details. She said that the doctors were surprised that Emma wasn't feeling the effects of her cancer earlier, and since she didn't show any of the usual symptoms, it was difficult to diagnose. Many of the doctors had thought that she had a bad case of the flu, but the truth was much worse.

In the few months that Emma had been in the hospital, her cancer had spread and grown. The signs that Emma had leukemia were clearly there now, and since the stage had progressed, it could be very difficult to treat.

The doctors also mentioned that they were relieved that her cancer was chronic, meaning that it would grow over a long period of time, and not acute, which would have progressed rapidly and killed Emma in a few short weeks. Even though the doctors were glad that this was not the case, Jack and his mother were still heartbroken that Emma had cancer in the first place.

"Jack," a soft voice brought Jack out of his thoughts. He was currently sitting in Emma's new hospital room, where his sister was finally awake. Once the doctors diagnosed her with leukemia, they moved her to the cancer ward.

"Yeah?" he asked, turning his attention to his sister. The doctors told Emma about her disease, but she didn't really seem affected by their words.

"Can I get out of bed?" Emma asked, gripping the plain white sheets from her sitting position on the bed. "And walk around a little?"

Jack frowned. "I don't know, Emma." Their mom had stepped out of the room not long ago to speak with the staff. They were going to discuss their treatment options to get help for Emma as soon as possible. He wasn't sure if letting her walk around now was a good idea.

"Please?" she begged. "I've been stuck in bed for days! I just need to get up and stretch my legs."

"But what if-"

"Please?" she whined, giving Jack her best puppy dog eyes.

Jack sighed, but a slight smile found its way to his lips nonetheless. "Oh, fine. Be right back." Jack hopped off the chair he was sitting in and wandered into the hall, where he found the front desk. A woman sat there, typing away at her computer. "Excuse me, ma'am," he said.

She instantly looked up. "Yes? What can I help you with?"

"My little sister, Emma Frost, she's in room 413. She's feeling restless, and um, was wondering if she could -uh- possibly walk around a bit?" The nurse furrowed her brows. "With me, that is," Jack added on quickly.

"I'm not sure if that's a good idea," the nurse stated as she pulled up Emma's information on her computer. "She was just diagnosed this afternoon and she needs plenty of rest."

Jack frowned. "Please? She's only seven, and is tired of sitting in bed for so long." He gave her his own puppy dog eyes and the nurse sighed in relent.

"Alright, but not for too long. Fifteen minutes at the most."

Jack grinned. "Of course, thank you!"

The nurse then got up to go help Emma get out of her bed. She disconnected Emma from the many wires and tubes that were hooked up to flashing screens. Emma was bouncing up and down in her bed, light brown eyes shining in excitement. This made Jack smile softly at her hyperactive attitude. Before Emma was admitted to the hospital, she was a ball full of energy, and really a hassle to take care of.

When Emma acted like this, it got harder and harder to believe that she was sick.

Finally Emma was set on her two feet, and the two siblings started walking down the hall.

"Yay!" Emma cheered, doing a little skip. Her short brown hair swayed just above her shoulders.

Jack was just glad that she was able to move around again. The two walked in peace for a few moments, before Jack turned to Emma. "So what do you wanna do?" he asked with a grin.

"Let's play tag!" Emma immediately exclaimed.

"In a hospital?" Jack quirked a brow. "How will that work?"

"Like this! You're it!" she laughed, tapping Jack on his arm as she ran off down the hall.

The Frost siblings spent the next fifteen minutes running around, trying to catch each other. Though in the end they got yelled at by the staff for running, so they had to return to their room. Neither felt guilty, and only laughed at their scolding. Jack was so glad that Emma was feeling well enough to do all of this. Seeing her bright and smiling face, Jack had a feeling that Emma would be okay after all.

* * *

**Here's a timeline so no one gets confused:**

**March 9th: Emma showed the first signs of sickness. Later admitted to the hospital in Allentown.**

**April 4th: Jack and his mom move to Allentown to be closer to Emma.**

**August 19th: Jack starts 10th grade in Allentown **

**Current day: August 27th**


	2. Chapter 2: Not Really Living

**A/N: Warning for slight angst at the end.**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Not Really Living**

The bell rang loudly, signaling the start of his first period class. Jack was late again, but he didn't really care. He didn't really care about anything anymore. Not after his sister...

"Move," some jerk said rudely as he pushed Jack out of the way.

Jack stumbled slightly, sighed, and continued slowly on his way to his new first period. He and his mom were finally back in Burgess, but he wasn't happy in the slightest to be here.

He didn't try to socialize with the people in any of his classes. Sure, Jack was alive, but he wasn't really living. He was just going through the motions, hoping that each day would end quickly so he could go home and sleep.

"Come on everyone, sit down. The bell already rung. Get in your seats now," his teacher was telling everyone as Jack walked in the room.

"Jake! Tardy again?" she scolded. "I could understand the first few, not knowing where your classes are, but it's been a week already. Come on. You have a detention scheduled for next week."

_Jake. Jake. Because that is _totally_ my name. Thank you Ms. Day for bothering to learn my name. Really means a lot._ Jack rolled his eyes and moved to go sit in his seat. It was Friday, but he wasn't happy like he normally would have been. Still, he was grateful that the weekend was here so he could go home and catch up on some much needed sleep.

"Psst!" A loud whisper sounded to his right.

Jack tried to ignore it as he stared out the window.

"Pssstt!" Whoever it was clearly wasn't going to give up easily.

Jack took out his notebook and tried taking notes on his new teacher's lecture.

The harsh whisper continued. "Hey, Jake!"

_Jake. Thank you Ms. Day for getting literally _everybody_ to call me Jake._

The nagging voice just wouldn't relent. "I know you can hear me."

_Fine then,_ Jack thought angrily as he turned to his right.

"Finally," a teen with odd gray hair sighed.

"What do you want?" Jack whisper/yelled back to him.

"Chill, chill. I was just wondering why you were always late to class."

"Why do you care?" Jack muttered as he turned back to his notebook. This ended the conversation, and Jack was able to ignore the other guy for the rest of class.

His day continued on, as Jack wandered from class to class through the unfamiliar hallways. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to get used to Burgess High.

"Alright, today we are going to be starting a new project," his last period teacher said, bringing Jack out of his thoughts. "Everybody get in groups of two to four people," Mr. Marvin continued.

Jack sighed. He always hated group projects, especially now since he's the new kid again. He hated being the odd one out, so Jack just sat there while his classmates began gathering people for their groups. He just figured that he'd join whichever group needed another person.

After a few minutes, a girl walked up to his desk. "Hey Jake," she greeted kindly. She had emerald green eyes, and dressed fashionable with bright colours. She wore a light green v-neck top with a dark blue mini skirt, black leggings, and blue converse. Her hair reached her lower back in light brown waves. Streaks of pink, blue, and green peeked through the natural brown of her hair.

This girl was pretty, and seemed popular by the way she held her head high. Jack briefly wondered what she could possibly want with him.

"Do you want to be in our group?" she asked, answering Jack's mental question. She gestured over to the guy with gray hair that had been bothering Jack in his first period class. He was really tan and wore a plain green shirt and blue jeans.

"It's Jack," he murmured, quietly correcting her.

A look of confusion crossed her face. "Huh?"

"My name is Jack. Not Jake," he repeated. "But yeah, I'll be in your group."

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed. "I'm so sorry! It's just that I've heard so many teachers calling you Jake that I just assumed..." she rambled on, though Jack really didn't care to listen to all of it.

Jack momentarily wondered if he might have been put in the school system as Jake Overland Frost.

"Anyways," the girl coughed, clearing her throat and the awkward tension in the air. "I'm Tatiana, but people call me Tina." Tina flashed Jack a warm smile. "And this is Evan." She gestured over to the gray haired guy from earlier.

"Sup," Evan said with a typical highschooler nod. "Why did you ignore me earl-" he started, but Mr. Marvin interrupted.

"Okay class, now that you have your groups, I'll explain your project." He waited until he had the class's full attention before continuing. "Each group will be creating a poster board about cancer. You may choose whichever type of cancer you would like, but it can't be the same as another group."

Jack's heart sunk at the "c" word.

"I will come by your table and give you a paper with the rest of the instructions on it. You must tell me your group's topic so there will be no duplicated diseases. These projects will be due in three weeks, and because you have so much time to work, I expect the final product to be neat and informative. When you turn in it, we will be presenting your poster board. For the rest of the class period, you may discuss your topic."

Jack's stomach began hurting halfway through the instructions.

"We can make our poster board so pretty!" Tina exclaimed, turning to Jack and Evan.

"Sounds like too much work to me," Evan groaned. Jack noted that Evan had a peculiar accent, probably Australian.

"Oh come on!" Tina said, playfully shoving Evan's shoulder. "I wonder if there's a cancer that affects your teeth..."

"Ugh Tina, no." Evan gave her a look of scorn.

Jack raised an eyebrow at their strange conversation. Apparently Evan noticed, as he turned to Jack to explain. "Tina here is obsessed with teeth."

"No I'm not!" Tina said exasperatedly.

"Yes, you are. Don't even try to deny it."

"Well I want to be a dentist when I grow up, so it's a completely normal fascination that I have about teeth," she told him matter of factly.

"Yeah right," Evan chuckled and turned back to Jack. "We all like to call her Tooth because of it."

"Whatever, _bunny,_" Evan winced from the nickname and Jack smirked at the other's discomfort. "Well what cancer do you want to do?" Tina asked them both.

"I don't really care," Evan said, sounding bored. "I just wish we had a more exciting topic than cancer."

Jack's stomach began hurting again when they continued to repeat that word.

Tina rolled her eyes at Evan. "This is health care class, so it makes sense to do a project like this. Anyways, what cancer would you like to choose, Jack?" Tina turned her attention to the white haired teen.

"I don't know..." Jack mumbled. He'd rather not do this project at all. It was still too soon.

"Oh c'mon snowball head, you gotta have some idea," Evan said, leaning over to ruffle Jack's hair.

"Snowball head?" he asked curiously. This was a good distraction from their previous conversation about cancer.

Evan pointed to his head. "Your hair, it's white and messy and it kinda looks like snow."

"Ignore Evan," Tina cut in. "He likes giving people nicknames. Like he told you before, he calls me Tooth a lot. Don't worry though, that might not be your nickname. He'll probably change it once he gets to know you better."

"Oh..." Jack trailed off. He didn't really care about getting to know people, but he supposed it wouldn't hurt to make some friends. The doctors told him that having friends would help with the healing process.

"So what cancer are we gonna choose?" Evan said, leaning back in his seat and stretching.

Tina looked up to the board at the front of the class. "Well, some of the better known cancers are already chosen."

The other two looked at the board, and saw that three other groups had already chosen their cancers.

"Hmm... I guess we could choose leukemia since it isn't taken yet," Tina says, turning back to her group.

Jack's stomach felt even worse. There were so many different types of cancers to choose from, and Tina just _had_ to suggest leukemia.

Jack really wanted to throw up at that moment.

"Why leukemia?" groaned Evan.

Yep, definitely going to throw up.

"It's interesting! And besides, it's one of the more main cancers. What do you think Jack?"

He felt like his throat was closing in that moment, and Jack couldn't utter a single word. He just stared at her dumbly, mouth gaping like a fish.

"Jack?" Tina furrowed her brows in worry. "Are you okay?"

He tried finding his voice again. "Y-yeah, fine.

"Um, all right then. Do you want to choose leukemia?"

"Um..." Jack tried swallowing the lump in his throat. "I'd rather not..." He trailed off as Mr. Marvin came up to their group.

"Leukemia? Your group is doing leukemia? Oh, that's a great choice! Then I'll put Tatiana, Evan, and Jake down for leukemia," their teacher said happily, going up to the board to write it down.

"Okay! Leukemia it is then!" Tina laughed.

"Whatever." Evan shrugged.

Jack just kept his mouth shut. Mostly to prevent the bile in his throat from rising any further.

"So, I guess we have the rest of the class time to talk, since we can't really start on the project without any supplies," Tina commented, resting her chin on the palm of her hand.

"I guess so," Evan agreed. "So Jack, why are you always late to class?"

"Oh... I just... don't really know my way around the school yet," Jack responded quietly.

Evan raised a brow. "No offense but it's been a week since you came here, Jack. Don't you know where your classes are?"

Jack shook his head.

Tina glanced at Evan. "Oh, well if that's the case, then Evan and I can walk you to the classes we have together. Evan is in your first period, right? Then Evan and I are both in third, fourth, and last period with you..." Tina turned to Evan. "Do you have second period with Jack?"

"Nope. I have art second."

"Oh, no. Please, no. It's fine, you guys don't have to walk me to my classes. I'm fine. Please don't. I'll be fine. I'll try hard not to be late anymore if that's what you're worried about..." Jack rambled on, and it felt as if he couldn't stop.

Tina and Evan glanced at each other, sharing matching, confused looks.

_Ugh why did I even say all that crap..._

"What are you talking ab-" Evan started, but was cut off by a big guy walking up to their group.

"Bunny! Tooth!" he exclaimed in a heavy accent.

"Hey North!" Tina says, smiling. "Are you and Sean in a group together? What cancer are you doing?"

"We are doing brain tumor," North replied, and Jack decides that his accent is Russian.

"Why did he call you Bun-" Jack tried to ask, but was interrupted by the new guy.

"Who is this?!" North bellowed loudly. He apparently hadn't heard of the 'use inside voices' rule.

"His name is snowball head," Evan comments.

"His name is Jack," Tina says with a roll of her eyes at Evan's horrible nickname. "Jack, this is Nathan, but we like to call him North."

Nathan was a really big guy. He was tall and buff, with light brown hair. Jack had seen him around the hall a couple of times, and was pretty sure he was a senior.

"Jack! Nice to meet you. Like Tooth said, I'm Nathan, but you can call me North. This here is Sean," Nathan finishes, pointing to the smaller guy beside him.

Sean waved, smiling happily. He was short and round, with blonde hair and blue eyes. Around his neck was a necklace with a tiny jar, filled with sand.

"Jack, you tried asking why Nathan called Evan 'Bunny'?" Tina says for confirmation. "Well, as you can probably tell, we all have nicknames. Evan gave them all to us. They all have to do with something about us. Sean's is Sandman, because he likes the beach and mine is Tooth, because I love teeth."

"Mine is North because I love Christmas. Plus, Santa Claus lives at the North Pole, and people say I kinda look like Santa, so my nickname is North," North adds.

"But I guess Evan didn't give _all_ the nicknames, since obviously he didn't give himself one. So we all gave one to him. He loves painting and every Easter he makes coloured eggs. So we called him the Easter Bunny, or Bunny for short."

"Oh," Jack says, quietly taking in all the information.

Sean and Nathan sit down next to their group, and everyone begins chatting. Jack quickly learns that Sean is mute, since the other teen didn't speak and made hand gestures, which Jack recognized to be sign language. Jack merely sat there, catching a few snippets of the others' conversations about what they're doing this weekend, the upcoming winter break, and hoping that it will snow sometime soon.

Jack was only half listening, and only spoke when the others asked him something. He hadn't really talked to anyone since coming to Burgess High. Jack really only spoke a few words throughout the day... 'I'm leaving for school', 'I'm sorry I'm late to class', 'Goodnight'. But that's about it. Today was actually the most he had spoken since coming back to this school.

Needless to say, Jack felt a little awkward and out of place with his new 'friends'. Luckily, the bell rung not too long later, so he gathered his things and headed out of the class. School was finally over, and Jack would be able to go home...

"Hey, Jack!" Tina's chipper voice sounded from behind him. "Do you want to come over to my house after school so we can work on our project?"

Jack winced from her volume, but turned around to face his friends.

"We're all coming over," North added. "So we can hang out after working."

"Yeah! Just call your parents and ask them," Tina suggested.

_No. No. No..._ It wasn't that Jack didn't like Tina or the others, but he just wanted to go home. It had been an extremely exhausting week and Jack was tired of interacting with others. He especially didn't want to create a project about a disease that took away so much from his family.

"I don't real-" he tried declining the offer.

Evan interrupted. "C'mon snowball head. It's Friday! Just call your parents and ask."

Jack thought about it for another moment. Sure, he was tired, but he could catch up on some sleep over the weekend. Besides, he was even more tired of dealing with his mom...

"Okay, I'll ask. Can you guys wait outside the front of the school so I can call my mom?"

"Sure thing!" Tina agreed quickly, and led the others to the front of the building.

Jack made his way down an empty hall, so it could be quieter and pulled out his phone. Taking a deep breath, Jack clicked on his mom's contact and pressed the call button. She picked up on the last ring. Jack could barely tell that she answered the call, since she didn't say anything.

"Um mom, are you there?" he asked cautiously.

"_What do you want?"_ came the harsh reply.

Jack flinched from her tone. He could tell that she wasn't in a good mood. Then again, she never was anymore. "Well, um, I was just wondering if I could go to my friend's house and work on a project..."

There were a few tense moments while Jack waited for a reply, before it was broken by her yelling.

"Mom! Please don't do this... No! Just listen to me, mom." Jack tried to calm her down, but her screaming only escalated.

"_You're such a horrible child! How can you not be affected by this!"_

Jack felt his heart break. Of course he was affected. Both of them were. "Mom, I am, but please, I'm trying to get past this..."

"_So what, you just want to forget about her?"_ she sobbed uncontrollably, and Jack had a hard time making out her words.

"No mom!" Jack felt tears pricking his eyes. "Never, I never want to forget about Em-"

"_Don't you _dare_ say her name!" _she shrieked. _"This is all your fault!"_

"It's not my faul-"

"_Why couldn't it have been you instead of her?!"_ And with that, the call was cut off as his mom hung up on him.

Jack slowly lowered the arm that he was using to hold up his phone. "It's not my fault..." he whispered, and finally the tears spilled over, and came dripping down his cheeks. It had been awhile since he last cried, so Jack let it happen for awhile. He then sniffled and quickly tried to wipe his face with his sweatshirt sleeve.

Luckily, no one else was in the hall to see his mini breakdown. He was suddenly very glad that he sent his friends to the front of the school, otherwise they would have seen him in this state.

Walking over to the nearest bathroom, Jack checked his face in the mirror, and decided that no one would be able to tell that he had been crying. His eyes weren't red or puffy, so that was a good sign. Jack figured that he had kept his friends waiting long enough, so he headed to the front of the school, trying to push his conversation with his mom out of his mind.


	3. Chapter 3: Hot Chocolate

**A/N: Well I'm home sick so here's an update! I will try to make Mondays my regular update, so expect a chapter a week!**

**Illegal driving in this chapter. Please don't do this. Also, more sad Jack.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Hot Chocolate**

"This is awesome!" Tina yelled as Jack approached his friends at the front of the building. "It's snowing!"

Jack looked to the sky. Light gray clouds covered the whole sky, and small little flakes were steadily falling.

"I heard on the weather this morning that there's going to be a blizzard," North commented, glancing at the clouds warily.

"It's fine. You can all still come over. And if we get snowed in, then it'll be a sleepover!" Tina exclaimed. "Oh Jack, are you able to come over?"

_Well, I didn't really get an answer from my mom... but she didn't say no._

Jack nodded.

"Yay!" cried Tina.

"Then let's go!" North said.

The five made their way to the school parking lot, where Tina stopped in front of a silver Mustang.

"Is this your car?" Jack asked. The car seemed relatively new, and it must have been expensive.

"Yep!" Tina chirped, taking out her key from her bag.

"I can drive if you want," North offered.

Tina had a puzzled expression on her face. "Huh? Why?"

"Are you good at driving in the snow?" Nathan replied. It was snowing heavily now, and the white flakes were piling up on the ground.

"Good point. Here," she tossed her keys at him after unlocking the car.

Evan quickly opened the door and jumped inside. "I'm f-freeezing!"

Sandy got in on the other side and Jack climbed in after him. Yet Evan was right though, it was freezing. Even in his dark blue sweatshirt, Jack was feeling the cold. But he didn't mind it as much as Evan seemed to.

Something suddenly occurred to Jack. "North, when did you get your license?"

"A couple of months ago," he replied nonchalantly, starting up the car.

"Then isn't this illegal?" There were five people in the car, after all.

"Only if we get caught," North said with a twinkle in his light blue eyes.

And with that, North took off in the parking lot, at a safe enough speed in the snow, and headed towards Tina's house. Jack looked out the window, watching the unfamiliar surroundings pass. Tina turned on some music, while she, Evan, and North started talking about how excited they were that it snowed this early in November. Meanwhile, the flakes continued falling, quick and heavy. After a few more minutes of driving, North finally parked in the driveway of a large house.

Judging from the outer appearance of the two-storey home, and the new car Tina owned, Jack guessed that her family was pretty well off. At least more so than Jack's family.

The entire neighbourhood was covered in snow, and it made everything look even more calm and beautiful. Jack wished that he could have lived in a nice place like this.

Tina grabbed out another key and unlocked one of the large double doors. "Mom, I'm home. With Sean, Nathan, Evan, and Jack!" she called upon entering.

Jack took a moment to look at the inside. There was a large staircase to the right, and the home gave off an overall clean and welcome feel.

"Oh, hi honey!" a woman responded, entering the foyer from a room on the left. Jack immediately knew it was her mom, as she looked like an older version of Tina. Minus the coloured streaks, of course.

"Hey Mrs. Fisher," North greeted. Sean gave a polite wave.

"Hello Nathan, Sean, Evan, and..." she paused for a second, glancing at the only unfamiliar face.

"That's Jack," Tina smiled as she introduced her new friend. "He's in my group for our new project in health care."

"Jake?" Mrs. Fisher asked as though she hadn't heard his name properly.

"Jack," he corrected. _Seriously?!_

"I'm still freezing!" yelled Evan, still noticeably shivering.

"I'll go make us some hot chocolate then," Mrs. Fisher announced before walking off to the kitchen.

"Thanks mom!" Tina called after her. "Let's go upstairs and start working on our homework," she told everyone, already heading up the stairway. Jack and the others soon followed.

"Ugh, I hate homework," complained Evan with a groan.

"It is always a lot of work," Nathan agreed.

"And we'll have to do a lot of research for our health care project!"

"Come on guys, it's not that bad," Tina interrupted their complaints, for which Jack was grateful. "I have a laptop we can look stuff up on!"

Evan grumbled, but didn't protest any further as the five made their way into Tina's room. It was exactly like how Jack expected it to look; the room was large and clean, with a diverse array of colours. The walls were different shades of green, and a bright pink bedspread covered her queen sized bed. Jack stood in the doorway in awe, there was so much colour, that it was almost hard to look at.

His other friends simply walked in the room as if it was nothing special. Apparently they had been here many times before, and were used to the visual assault of colours.

Tina grabbed her laptop and climbed on the bed, with Evan and Sean following after her. North chose to sit in the desk chair.

"Come on, Jack. Grab a seat," Tina called when she noticed Jack wasn't moving from his spot in the doorway.

"Oh... uh, right, okay." Jack's face flushed when he realized that he had been standing there for awhile. He then moved to sit in the neon yellow beanbag chair in the corner.

Tina booted up her computer while the others made idle chat. Soon enough, Mrs. Fisher came in the room, bearing hot chocolate.

"Finally!" Evan cried in relief. "Now I won't be freezing my fingers off!"

Everyone grabbed a mug, and Tina's mom left with a 'good luck on your homework' statement.

"Let's go work in the office downstairs," North told Sean. "There's another computer in there."

Sean nodded in agreement, and the two got up, bringing their hot chocolate with them.

"Let's start working," Tina announced, scrolling through an article on her laptop. "Here we go, leukemia. It says here that leukemia is a type of blood cancer that starts in the bone marrow..."

"Weird," Evan commented, taking another sip of his hot chocolate.

Jack sighed and put his mug down on the desk. It smelled delicious, but he really didn't want to drink it anymore.

"I'll just go ahead and write some information down," Jack said, wanting to throw up.

"All right. Read this with me, Evan." Tina scooted the laptop in between them so they could both see the screen.

Jack pulled out an empty journal from his backpack and started writing down everything he knew about leukemia. The three worked for a good half hour at the least, mostly in silence, except when it was broken by Tina or Evan's laugh at something on the internet. Jack's stomach hurt just doing all of this.

"Okay, can I see what you wrote, Jack?" Tina asked after a while of working.

"Sure," he responded quietly, getting up from his rather comfy position on the beanbag chair. He then handed his notebook to Tina. Both she and Evan took a few minutes to read his writing.

"Wow, that's a lot of information," Tina remarked. "How do you know so much about leukemia? Evan and I were using the computer, so..."

"Oh... I just, um, looked it up on my phone?" Jack lied. When he first found out... about Emma... he researched everything there was to know about leukemia. Everything from the different types, to the different options for treatment... Jack knew everything. He wanted to know exactly what his sister was going through, and what he could do to help.

"Overachiever over here," Evan said, somewhat annoyed.

"Awesome. Good work, Jack," Tina praised before getting up from her bed and grabbing a poster board. Jack wondered when she got it, but he didn't really care at the moment. "Okay, so we can have the title up at the top, description on the left, symptoms underneath that, types and diagnosis in the middle, and cures on the right."

"There is no cure," Jack corrected her, voice blank and void of emotion.

Bright eyes flickered over to Jack. "What?"

"What do you mean there's no cure?" Evan asked, seeming confused.

"Well, there's treatment meant to reduce the number of affected blood cells, but..."

"How do you-"

"Excuse me," Jack said quickly, interrupting Evan from questioning him any further.

Jack rushed out of the room and down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. His head was throbbing badly and he couldn't think straight. All Jack knew was that he had to get out of that room, and out of this house. He went straight for the front door, and threw it open.

The outside world was white with fresh snow and the brightness only made Jack's headache worse. But the cold felt refreshingly nice, so he went around to the side of the house and slid down against the wall until he was sitting in the freezing snow. Jack brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them.

He just sat there, in the icy wet mush, allowing the cold to stab him, and even welcoming the numbing feeling. Jack would take the freezing pain over his current emotions anyday.

Warm, salty tears ran down his cheeks in large droplets. Wind buffeted his face, making the tear trails even colder. His arms tightened around his knees.

"You're so stupid Jack," he sniffed pathetically.

Jack slammed his head against the brick house roughly. "You're so stupid!" he repeated, this time louder. "Look what you did! Tina and her friends were being so nice and brought you to her house. But you act stupid and leave them confused, so you can go outside and cry..." he trailed off, his voice broken by an attack of sniffs and hiccups.

"I can't even... you're so stupid!" he yelled, letting out a sob as he dropped his face into his arms. "Mom was right... it should've been me instead of her..." he clenched his fists furiously, but the anger left him as soon as it came, and the only feeling left was a hopeless one. "I miss you Emma...I miss you... so much..." Jack let his head rest on top of his knees for what seemed like forever. His crying eventually slowed to a halt, leaving Jack heaving dry sobs. The snow kept falling all the while.

"What-what do I do now?" he asked himself quietly. Jack was actually surprised to hear his own voice. It had been a while since he last talked to himself, though he used to do that a lot when he was younger. Though it only ever happened when he was alone. _I guess that habit's back then..._ "I can't, I can't just go back inside acting like nothing happened. And I can't just leave because my backpack is inside... What do I do? There's no way I'm telling them about Emma. Ugh! You're so dumb Jack! Why don't you actually think things through for once?"

After a few more minutes of a silent and mental debate, Jack tried standing up. Which wasn't a really good idea, because his head began pounding again and Jack slid back down with a dizzied groan. Maybe sitting and crying in the snow for so long wasn't the best idea that Jack had ever had.

He tried again, slower this time, and brushed the snow from his shoulders and hair. Jack was literally frozen, and he figured that he could really go for some hot chocolate at the moment. His pocket vibrated, and Jack pulled out his phone. The caller id said 'mom'. Letting out a frustrated sigh, Jack tapped on the answer button.

"Yeah, mom?" He tried keeping his voice steady so she wouldn't know that he had been crying.

"_Where are you?!"_

Jack flinched from her tone. "I told you earlier! If you had actually listened to me you might have known-"

"_Don't you _dare_ talk back to me, young man!"_ she yelled. She sounded beyond furious at this point.

"It wasn't talking back, I was just explaining!" Jack rose his voice in order to be heard above her yelling.

"_I asked you a question, Jack. So where the hell are you!" _his mother shrieked, and Jack knew that he'd be in big trouble by the time he got home.

He tried keeping his voice strong and steady, which was a lot easier than it sounded. "If you actually listened to me you wouldn't have been wondering where I was!" Her yelling continued despite his attempts to explain. "Oh my gosh, mom, just stop," Jack whined. He hated it when he whined, but at the moment, he could really care less. He was so tired of dealing with his mother. "We're working on a project..."

"_Whatever, I don't care."_

Jack wanted to yell back at her, and ask why she was acting this way if she didn't even care, but he bit his tongue. She was still his mother, after all. No matter how annoying and impossible she was.

"_Just tell them that you have to leave right now."_

"What? No, I'm not telling them I have to leave," Jack tried to protest, but she began screaming again so he changed his mind. "Fine!" he yelled and slammed his finger on the end call button. It wasn't nearly as satisfying as slamming a flip phone shut, but that's what you get for smartphones.

Jack angrily wiped away the last traces of his tears, shoving his phone back in his pocket. He took a few deep breaths to steady himself before walking around the house to the front door. "Keep it together, Jack," he told himself quietly before opening the still unlocked door.

Upon entering, Jack realized that everyone was out in the living room, watching tv.

"Jack! Are you okay?" Tina called worriedly.

Jack rushed up the stairs to avoid confrontation. "Yeah, fine!" He quickly grabbed his backpack from Tina's room and went back downstairs. "My mom called me and wants me back home."

"Really?" Evan questioned. "That sucks."

"Yeah, too bad you couldn't stay longer," Nathan commented.

Sean gave Jack a concerned nod, agreeing with North.

"Do you want me to drive you home, sweetie?" Mrs. Fisher asked, coming in the living room from the kitchen.

"No, no, that's fine." Jack hurriedly declined.

"Are you sure? It's getting late and you shouldn't have to walk in the snow..." she remarked, looking out the window and seeing the sun setting in the horizon.

"No, it's fine, really. I live close by so it's no problem. I'll be fine." Jack re-tied one of his shoe laces before walking back to the front door. He was just about to open it when-

"Wait, Jack!" Tina called.

Jack stifled a sigh and turned around. He was surprised to see Tina right in front of him. Apparently she had gotten up off of the couch.

"I'll see you on Monday, okay?" she asked anxiously.

"Okay," Jack responded, turning back around and exiting the house.

He actually didn't live close to Tina. Jack just didn't want Mrs. Fisher driving him home. He would rather walk and try to sort out his problems by himself.

The cold was very numbing, and it helped Jack forget about his mom and friends for a moment. But then he blinked back to reality, and Jack knew that he was still very troubled by everything that happened with his sister. He wished that he had a father who would be able to keep his mother in check. But then, it wasn't her fault that she acted that way. It was _all Jack's fault_, because he was still alive.

No matter how long he tried to deny the awful truth, Jack knew deep down that it was all his fault. His mother was so happy and supportive before, and her drastic change was all due to Jack.

All because he was alive and his sister wasn't.

Jack hardly registered the tears falling down his face until they clouded his vision and he couldn't see the snow covered sidewalk directly in front of him. He blinked hard, trying to push the tears away. It had been a while since Jack had last cried this many times in a day.

He thought back to his earlier words to Tina's mom. _'I'll be fine,'_ he had said. _But how can I be fine? My mom hates me, and I wish I was dead instead of my little sister..._ A heavy sob erupted from Jack's chest, effectively bringing him out of his thoughts. He tried wiping his tears on his hoodie sleeve, but new tears formed as quickly as the others were wiped away. Instead of fighting it, Jack just let it go, and let all of his rush tears out.

Eventually the tears stopped flowing, though Jack kept sniffing constantly. The cold air was making his nose runny. Yet he kept on walking despite how terrible he felt.

"I'll be fine," he repeated to himself. _I'll be fine, just like every other day._

The sun sunk even lower on the horizon, and the sky turned a dark purple. Jack finally realized that it had stopped snowing, and the heavy overcast clouds had parted, revealing the beautiful night sky.

After a long hour of walking in the freezing cold, Jack arrived at his house around 8:00. It was a small house, but then again, it was just Jack and his mom living there. He pulled out his key from his backpack and unlocked the door, dreading his mother's reaction after their earlier phone call.

"I'm home," he called, his voice scratchy from all the yelling and sobbing. "Are you happy you ruined my day?" Jack whispered under his breath, but then thought about it. No, it wasn't his mom who ruined his day. _It was me..._

"Finally, what took you so long?" his mother came striding into the foyer, pulling on a coat.

"I walked home in the snow," Jack told her honestly. At least she wasn't yelling at him.

"Oh." She seemed indifferent. "I'm going out. Watch the house while I'm gone."

_Seriously?_ Jack thought angrily in his mind. _Did she seriously make me leave my friends on a Friday night just_ _to watch the freakin house?!_

"Okay," he replied, irritation leaking into his voice. "Bye."

His mother didn't bother replying before she was out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

"At least I don't have to deal with her yelling," Jack sighed, taking off his sneakers and going down the hall. Jack then stopped by the washroom to look at himself in the mirror. He pulled up his shirt, and looked at his fat, pudgy stomach.

Jack sighed again. "No dinner for me tonight."

After leaving the bathroom, Jack went back out to the living room. It was littered with trash. Old takeout containers were strewn about the coffee table and side tables, while empty beer and wine bottles were scattered throughout the room. He supposed that the room was cleaner than it had been in a while. Jack went to the kitchen, grabbed a new trash bag, and began picking up the garbage. Once the living room was clean, Jack threw out the trash and went back to the washroom.

Shedding his clothes, Jack took a quick shower before going to his bedroom. The room was small, and barely had any personal possessions. And unlike Tina's room, Jack's bedroom was dull and boring. But he guessed that it suited his personality.

He jumped on his bed, deciding that an early sleep would be best. Shutting his eyes, Jack had peaceful dreams of times when Emma was still alive and well.

* * *

**Does anyone know where the last name 'Fisher' came from? Kudos to the person that gets it! :)**

***Original author's note from ****xKizzyy****!***

**Do you guys like sad angsty Jack? :3 You'll be seeing more of him, so I hope you don't mind. Can I just explain a few things about Jack real quick though? I feel like after reading this chapter people will get mixed emotions about him.**

**He really is a good kid and he's not rude to adults, only his mom because he has the right reason to.**

**He does appreciate the things he has but he doesn't think it's fair that the best thing to him was taken away.**

**He doesn't like being alone and not having friends, but he doesn't want to open up to people so he's kinda stuck. But when he has the opportunity for people to care about him, he goes for it.**


	4. Chapter 4: Downtown Drama

**A/N: A couple people guessed it, but ****Cat Lunaoff**** got it first! Isla Fisher voiced Tooth in the movie, so I used Fisher for Tina's last name.**

**Warnings for this chapter: More about eating disorders and angsty Jack.**

**Also, enter: Babytooth.**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Downtown Drama**

Light filtered in through the window, and Jack's eyes slowly opened. Sitting up in bed, he decided it was time to go visit his friend who he hadn't seen in a long time. Jack got up and moved to the window, seeing the entire ground covered in several feet of white fluffy snow.

He pulled on a sweater and pair of skinny jeans, and was ready to leave within minutes.

"Mom! I'm going out!" he shouted upon walking down the stairs.

She was laying on the couch, watching tv. Her back faced him. "I don't care what you do," she replied without bothering to turn around.

Jack rolled his eyes and left without breakfast. The outside air was freezing cold, as the sun hadn't fully come up yet. Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and walked down the familiar road to his friend's house. She is the only person that Jack considered a friend at this point... he wasn't sure if the others counted yet.

After a good fifteen minutes of walking, Jack came up to a small brown brick house. Knocking on the door, Jack shuffled his feet, kicking off the snow that clung to his sneakers. A few minutes passed before the door opened up, revealing his childhood friend. Her light blonde hair was short and with soft curls, just like Jack remembered.

"Jack?" she questioned, her mismatched eyes wide with surprise.

"Hey Ami!" Jack greeted.

Her face lit up with a bright smile. "It's so good to see you! Do you want to come in?"

"Nah," Jack shook his head, "I was thinking we could walk around downtown and catch up."

"But I'm still in my pajamas! You could have texted me," Ami pouted.

"Sorry, I forgot!" Jack wanted to see her so bad that he forgot to text her about coming over. He just couldn't wait to get out of the house and leave his mom, if only for a few hours.

"Whatever. How are you up so early anyways?" she asked curiously.

Jack shrugged. It surely wasn't because of nightmares that ruined his happy dreams of Emma. Or the fact that he couldn't sleep for longer than an hour without waking up screaming, which his mom yelled at him for. Nope, it definitely wasn't either of those reasons.

"Alright, just give me a few minutes to get dressed."

"Why? PJ's are perfect for walking around town in," Jack teased with a smirk.

"That's what you think!" Ami stuck out her tongue at him. "I won't be too long. Do you want to wait inside for me? It's really cold out."

"Nah, it's fine. I'll wait out on the porch," Jack replied.

"Okay, be out in a few!" And with that, Ami shut the door and rushed to get ready.

Jack moved to go sit on one of the porch chairs. While sitting, he thought about his friend. His only friend.

Ami moved from France to Burgess with her family when she was six. Their parents knew each other, so Ami and Jack were really close growing up. Even though Ami is home schooled, they always found time to hang out. Ami's a year younger than Jack, so she's only fourteen and in 9th grade. She's really mature (at times), and gives amazing advice.

She is also the only person that knows what Jack had to go through with Emma. Even though she didn't get to go to Allentown to be with Jack's family, he texted her about everything. Since coming back to Burgess, Jack hadn't had the time to come and visit her, even though it had been about eight months since they last saw each other.

The door opened again, bringing Jack out of his thoughts.

"Okay! I'm ready to go out and explore this snowy town!" Ami cheered, completely dressed for the snow.

"A little cold, are we?" Jack joked. Though Ami did seem a little overdressed with her heavy winter coat, hat, scarf, gloves, and boots. At least compared to Jack and his simple black sweater.

"Oh hush, not everyone is as used to the cold as you," Ami scolded playfully.

Jack chuckled. "Let's go."

Ω Ω Ω

"I know! It was so funny!" Ami laughed as the two walked inside a cafe. They had been walking around downtown for awhile, catching up on lost time.

"I still can't believe your mom did that!" Jack agreed with a smile.

"Yeah," Ami paused, looking up to the menu board. "Let's get some food!"

"It's only 9:20," Jack stated after checking the time on his phone. "And you wanna get food now?"

"DUH," Ami replied dramatically. "Especially because _somebody_ came to my house at eight in the morning on a Saturday! I didn't even get a chance to eat breakfast!"

"Oh, I wonder who that could have been?" Jack tapped his chin in thought.

Ami playfully punched him in the arm. "Let's order some donuts!"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry. I had breakfast before I left," he lied.

Ami frowned. "But Jack, you're so skinny!"

_Ha ha, sure._ "Just order your donuts," he told her, chuckling.

"I will, thank you very much."

A jingle sounded, announcing the arrival of more customers. Jack blanched upon seeing who the two were.

"Are you ready, can we leave now?" Jack turned to Ami and questioned her quickly. He wanted to avoid the newcomers.

"Huh, but I haven't gotten my donut yet," Ami replied, walking up to the counter to order.

"Okay, just hurry before they-"

"Jack?" Tina called as she walked over to them.

"-see me..." Jack finished quietly with an inward groan. He then turned around, giving a slight wave to Tina and Evan.

"Are you okay?" Tina's violet eyes shone in concern. Jack was sure that they must be coloured contacts. "I was worried about you since you left so suddenly yesterday. And I hope we didn't offend you when you when you went outside..." she trailed off, seeing Ami next to Jack.

"No, no. I'm fine," Jack replied hurriedly. "Let's go, Ami."

"Wait, Jack. I still have to pay for my donut. What's the rush?" Ami asked, pulling out her wallet.

Jack sighed. He was hoping to avoid Tina and Evan, but it looks like that plan's already out the window.

"Oh! Are these your friends from school?" Ami asked when she saw the other two.

"Yep!" Tina chirped. "And you are...?"

"I'm Ami!"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Tina, and this is Evan," she gestured over to the other.

"Hey," Evan greeted.

Jack stifled another sigh. He had wanted to avoid all of this.

"So how do you know Jack?" Ami asked, turning her back on them to pay for her donut at the counter.

"He's in our project for health care," Evan replied.

"We're researching leukemia," Tina added.

Jack noticed Ami stiffen beside him. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Jack nodded to her, mouthing 'I'll tell you later'. He sure has a lot of explaining to do.

"Oh," Ami said quietly, turning back around with a grim smile. "That's... cool."

"Do you go to our school? I've never seen you around before," Evan commented.

"Oh, no. I'm home schooled. But I've known Jack since we were little. Our parents were close friends."

Tina blinked in confusion. "But didn't Jack just move here?'

"Yay, my order is ready!" Ami cheered.

"Great, okay, let's go. See you guys later," Jack hurriedly said, urging Ami out of the cafe.

"Bye! Nice meeting you!" Ami called over her shoulder.

"Well, that was awkward." Jack heard Evan say to Tina before the cafe door closed behind them.

Once they were a good distance away from the cafe, Ami turned to Jack. "Okay! Explanations?!"

Jack sighed heavily. But he knew that there was no avoiding this discussion. "Well, in health care yesterday, we got a project about cancer..." he started, and Ami's eyes immediately softened in sympathy. "And of course my group just _had_ to get leukemia." They continued walking while Jack talked, Ami eating her donut as she listened intently.

"I went over to her house after school yesterday so we could work on the project with some other people. I called my mom to ask, but she just ended up yelling at me again."

"What did she say?" Ami asked, bicoloured eyes laced with concern.

"Just that I was the worst son in the world, you know, the usual." Jack shrugged. After awhile, he sort of got used to his mom saying so many mean things. It still hurt whenever she said it though.

Ami didn't speak, but she looked like she wanted to comment about his mother.

"Anyways, I ended up going to Tina's house. We were upstairs researching leukemia, or at least she and Evan were while I wrote down everything I remembered," Jack continued. Ami already knew how he had looked up leukemia months before. "Well, then they were asking how I knew so much, and then I just had to get out of there."

"What do you mean?" Ami interrupted quietly.

"I don't know," Jack sighed, running his hand through his white locks. "I just had to leave the room for a while. I just couldn't be in there."

"Go on," Ami encouraged when it seemed like Jack wouldn't continue.

"I got really upset with myself and went outside for awhile." Jack conveniently skipped over the part where he cried his eyes out. "Then my mom called me again, wanting me home. She just yelled at me some more..." Jack paused when Ami patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I went back inside to tell them I had to leave, and Tina was really worried about me."

"And rightfully so," Ami commented with a definite nod.

"So when Evan and Tina came into the cafe earlier, I wanted to avoid them," Jack finished, letting out another sigh.

"I'm sorry Jack," Ami apologised, "I should have realised that you didn't want to talk to them. I shouldn't have talked to them..."

"It's okay," Jack said with a hard smile. "What's done is done."

"I'm so sorry for everything that's happened. You've been through a lot," Ami remarked, her grim expression matching Jack's.

"I know, I know. I just need to control my emotions better."

"Oh Jack." Ami brought her arms up and wrapped them around Jack, bringing him in for a hug.

"Sorry about all of this..." Jack starts.

"Jack!" Ami exclaimed, letting go of him. "What did you do to yourself?!"

"Huh?" Jack questioned, confused.

"What did you do to yourself while you were gone! I felt through your clothes when I hugged you just now, and there's practically nothing to hug. You're too skinny!" Ami yelled in concern. She wondered if Jack even let himself eat...

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jack murmured, voice shaking. He folded his arms across his chest nervously. He'd been found out and he knew it, even though he tried to deny Ami's words.

"Lift up your shirt," Ami commanded sternly.

"What? No."

"Jack!" she insisted.

"I'm fine, Ami," he told her harshly, but she wouldn't relent.

Her arms reached out quickly and grabbed the bottom of his sweater, pulling it up.

"Oh my god..." Ami whispered. Every rib was showing through his sunken in stomach. Small scars criss crossed his flesh, adding discolouration to his otherwise flawless skin. Ami wondered how those cuts got there. She stared at his bare stomach for a few moments, slowly bringing her hand up to feel the ribs poking through. "What did you do to yourself... Jack..." her voice broke as tears pricked her eyes.

Jack places his hand over hers, and gently lowered his sweater. He wanted to tell her everything that he's been through, and though she already knew most of it, Jack just couldn't bring himself to tell her the rest. Several emotions pass through him; anxiety, sadness, regret.

"I..." Jack starts, but loses his voice. "I should go."

"No! Jack, wait!" Ami called and grabbed his wrist as he tried to walk away.

"I'm sorry, Ami," Jack murmured quietly. He didn't want her to find out like this. Then again, he didn't want her to find out at all.

"For what?" Ami asked, exasperated.

"For everything," Jack whined. He hated it when he whined but he really couldn't help it. "I'm just so stupid. You're so nice to me and all I do is make you upset..." Jack trailed off as a couple passed by them, reminding Jack that they were still in public.

"Jack, what are you even talking about?" Ami couldn't believe that all of this was even happening. "Whatever you're doing to yourself, please stop. I don't know everything that happened while you were in Allentown but stop it. Stop. _Please_. You don't need to be skinny to be perfect."

Jack bit his bottom lip to keep the tears from falling. This is all he ever wanted to hear... someone who cared.

"You're so much better than this. I know with Emma gone it's beyond horrible. I know with your mom acting the way she is, it's not helping one bit. And I know going back to school here is terrible trying to fit in. But you're so much better than this. Now, don't ever call yourself stupid again, okay? You're great and that's why I love you. You can never upset me. Please know that I care for you, okay Jack?" Ami finished, breathless.

Jack suddenly found the concrete sidewalk very interesting to stare at. As long as it meant avoiding Ami's eyes. Jack nodded numbly.

"And Jack?"

He looked up slowly.

"Please stay strong. For me, if no one else," Ami grabbed his hand it gave it a firm squeeze. She needed to let him know that she was there for him, no matter what.

Jack nodded again. Wiping his eyes with his sleeve, Jack tried to regain his composure.

"So, how's it going with Tina?" Ami says, trying to lighten the mood with a joke.

Jack chuckled, but his laugh was hollow and broken. "Why? Is someone jealous?"

"What, no way. She could never compete with me," Ami said, flipping her curled blonde hair over her shoulder.

"Exactly. Because she beat you before it even started!" Jack laughed, and this time it sounded fuller.

"Hey!" Ami called in playful spite, shoving Jack's shoulder.

Jack chuckled again, and was thankful that he had Ami to joke around like this with. She was always there for him, and made him feel better when he was down. He really missed her when he was in Allentown.

The two continue walking down the street, the mood much lighter than it had been a few minutes ago. After a few more hours of walking around town, Ami decided to head home. She said she was freezing, even though she was fully dressed for the cold winter Saturday. Jack waved her off with a smile, but wished that she could have stayed longer. Though it was already a little past noon, he didn't want to go home to his mother.

He wanted to stay out as late as possible and avoid her.

But if there's one thing Jack learned today, it's that he can't avoid people forever. Just like he couldn't avoid the confrontation with Tina and Evan, Jack can't avoid talking to his mom.

He knew that the way she yelled at him wasn't normal. But she was still messed up about Emma. They both were. So he couldn't really blame her for it. She was still his mother, after all.

After a few more minutes of silent debate, Jack decided to walk home. He was freezing after being out in the cold for so long, and Jack was really craving a warm bath and some nice hot chocolate.

It took him about an hour to walk home, since he was pretty far downtown. He passed by several people on the way back to his house; they gave him friendly nods or polite hellos, but Jack could hardly return the gesture. He really didn't want to face his mom.

He finally arrived at his house around 1:40. Jack wondered is his mom was worried that he was gone so long. _Probably not. _

Unlocking the door, Jack was met with a dark living room. It was silent, so it either meant that his mom was asleep or out.

"I'm home," Jack announced to the darkness. Flicking on the lights, he noticed that the living room was in its usual state of disrepair. Empty beer cans littered the floor, along with some take out boxes. The putrid smell of smoke permeated the air.

"Mom?" he called out, louder this time. No reply.

_I guess she's out then. _Jack sighed and got to work cleaning. This was an endless cycle for him ever since he and his mom had come back to Burgess. His mom had taken up drinking and smoking after Emma died, even though she had quit since before Jack was born.

But he didn't hate her for it. He just couldn't.

Once he deemed the living room clean enough, Jack broke out the febreeze and sprayed it throughout the house. He really hated the smell of smoke.

Jack went into the kitchen, searching for some food. He hadn't eaten all day, but that was nothing particularly new. The fridge was empty save for several six packs of beer and wine bottles. Jack rolled his eyes and wished that his mom could have gone grocery shopping for a change.

The cabinets were bare other than a few cans of vegetables and pasta boxes. Reaching in the very back, Jack was delighted to find an unopened box of hot chocolate packets. He then warmed up some water on the stove, and in a few minutes, Jack had a steaming cup of chocolate.

Jack let out a sigh when the chocolatey warmth spread through him. He leaned against the counter, drinking his hot beverage in the silence of an empty house. He supposed that the house was more empty than it should have been.

Then again, without Emma, everything in Jack's life was empty.

Sighing, Jack set down his unfinished cup on the counter. He didn't feel like drinking anymore when he thought of his sister.

Jack went down the hall to the washroom, intent on taking a hot bath. Relaxing in the tub, he thought again of his sister. He wondered if she was truly in a better place, or if heaven was all made up. Jack and his family had never been religious, so he really didn't know about any of that.

But when he found out that Emma was sick, Jack prayed. That was the first time in his life that he had ever prayed, but Emma was still taken from him.

Jack sniffled, and realized that he was crying. Instead of wiping his tears, Jack let them fall into the bath water. "What's wrong with me..."


	5. Chapter 5: School Troubles

**A/N: ****Warning for slight cussing.**

* * *

**Chapter 5: School Troubles**

The weekend ended too soon, the snow melting along with it, much to Jack's dismay. Before he even knew it, it was Monday morning again. Jack pushed his way through the crowds of people in the hall, making his way to his third period class. Evan and Tina were already inside, waiting for him.

"Jack!" Tina called, gesturing him over. He sighed, but knew that he had to clear things up with them.

"Yeah?" he asked, leaning on Tina's desk.

"What was all that about on Saturday?" Evan asked, immediately getting down to business.

"What was all what about?" Jack countered, feeling stupid right afterwards. He knew that he would have to explain himself eventually, but at the moment, lying seemed like a much better option than the truth.

Evan rolled his eyes at Jack's antics. "When you saw us both in the cafe, you freaked out."

"You kept rushing Ami out too," Tina added, a concerned look crossing her face.

Jack pulled out his water bottle, taking a sip while he tried to think of an excuse. He swallowed, setting it down on Tina's desk while trying not to sigh. "I uh, I had somewhere else to be. And I didn't realise it had gotten so late before you both came in." It was a pretty obvious lie, but then again, Jack wasn't too good at lying in the first place.

Evan scoffed. "Busy? At 9:30 in the morning?" He clearly saw through Jack's lie.

"Why do you care?" Jack countered, a little defensively. He was running out of options at this point.

"We just wanted to know wh-" Evan began, but was cut off by the harsh ringing of the bell.

Jack was thankful for the interruption, as it allowed him to leave his two 'friends' and go sit at his desk three rows behind them. He was glad that he didn't have to sit by either of them in this class. Mrs. Callahan stood at the front, yelling for the class to take their seats, and for once, Jack complied without any hesitation.

The lesson began, and not twenty minutes in, Jack was dying of boredom. His teacher spoke in a monotone voice, and Jack wanted to go to sleep because of it. He really hadn't been sleeping well these past few months. Hearing some whispering from Tina and Evan, Jack leaned forward to hear better.

"I think that's Jack's water. He left it when he had to go to his seat," Tina murmured as Evan was unscrewing the cap.

"Oh, whoops." Evan tried screwing the cap back on. He glanced over his shoulder. "Hey Jack."

"What?" Jack whispered back, but he already knew what it was about.

"Here. Catch," Evan said, getting ready to throw the water bottle. He tossed it, but it wasn't far enough to reach Jack, and the cap wasn't completely screwed on.

Jack's eyes widened as the lid flew off, splashing the sleeping teen in front of him, soaking him thoroughly.

"Shit," Evan swore under his breath.

The cold water was enough to wake up the person in front of him, who just happened to be a jock that Jack had already made enemies with. "Whose water bottle was that?" he asked rather loudly, gaining the attention of the students sitting around him. Jack held his tongue and stayed quiet. "Whose water bottle was that?!" he yelled, making Mrs. Callahan stop her teaching.

"What's wrong Logan?" she asked, then noticing his soaking wet appearance. "What happened to you?" She sounded more annoyed that her teaching was interrupted than being concerned for Logan's sake.

"Some retard threw their water bottle at me. Who the hell was it!?" he yelled again, standing up in his anger.

Their teacher sighed, clearly choosing to ignore Logan's swear. "Now class, why would you want to do this to Logan? Who was it? Come on, come forward now."

The entire class began whispering, trying to see who the idiot was that messed with Logan. Logan was a jock on the football team who was known to beat up other students. No one in their right mind would mess with him.

Jack glanced over to Evan, who shrugged. He apparently didn't want to come forward. Sighing, Jack decided to take the fall. It might get him out of class at the least. "I-it was m-mine..." he said, voice shaking as he stood from his seat. Logan had been out to get him since day one, and this incident was not going to help that.

"Jake! You have a detention," Mrs. Callahan told him sternly. "You always come to class late, and now you cause problems for others by throwing water on them? I'm going to have a serious talk with you after school."

Whispers broke out among the class again, gossiping how Logan was going to beat up Jake for this, and how they couldn't wait to watch it happen. Jack felt like vomiting at their heartless and insensitive words, and even more so when Logan shot him a deadly glare. He knew that he was going to pay for this later. He glanced at Evan again, seeing the other frowning, and Jack shook his head with a grim smile. Even though this was partly (mainly) Evan's fault, Jack would rather take the blame himself. He didn't want Evan to step in.

"You little toothpick..." Logan seethed. "I'll make you sorry for this!"

Jack flinched when the other took a step towards him, but their teacher cut in. "Now Logan. I know you're upset with Jake, but now's not the time for that." In other words, she's totally fine with letting Logan beat the crap out of him, just not in her class. "You can go to the bathroom and clean up. And Jake..."

Jack finally lost his patience with her. "It's Jack."

"What?" Mrs. Callahan blinked, seeming taken aback.

"My name is Jack, not Jake. Just thought I should tell you..." he trailed off as her look changed to one of anger.

"Are you talking back to me?" Her clipped tone made Jack wince.

"No, I was just-"

"Do you want another detention or something?"

"But I wasn't-"

"Detention!" she yelled, earning several snickers from his classmates. Logan seemed to calm down, and merely gave Jack a disgusted snort before leaving the classroom.

"I wasn't even talking..." Jack tried explaining himself, but his teacher was beyond reason.

"Jake! I don't expect any more of this behaviour from you today!"

He never wanted to faceplam so bad in his life. Sighing, Jack took his seat again, avoiding Tina and Evan's looks of concern. He didn't even want to look at them at the moment.

"Well, now that Jake has finished insulting the entire class," Mrs. Callahan spoke, trying to regain a calmer demeanor.

_I didn't insult anyone!_ Jack yelled in his mind.

"We shall continue our lesson."

Tina and Evan's finally eyes left him as they turned back to the teacher to pay attention to the lecture. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Jack sunk down in his chair, wanting to be anywhere else at the moment.

Ω Ω Ω

"Why'd you throw that water bottle at Logan? He's going to be so mad at you," a girl asked as she walked by. This was the fifth similar question he'd been asked in the last four minutes.

Jack sighed. "I didn't-" he started, but she was already walking off to lunch. Sighing again, Jack decided to go outside for his lunch break. It was a really nice day out and besides, he really didn't feel like facing Tina or Evan after that water bottle incident in English. Exiting the school, Jack went past the basketball court, where several students were playing a quick game, to a tree on the other side of it. He leaned up against the weathered bark, pulling out his homework and granola bar.

Other than the few kids playing basketball, it was pretty quiet. Then again, it was still pretty cool out, so most students were inside at the cafeteria. But Jack didn't really mind the cold so much. He liked sitting outside much better. That way, he could avoid his 'friends' and all of the other jocks who like to push him around and call him names. He didn't like to call them his bullies–that seemed like such an elementary term–but that's what they were. Logan was one of them.

Sighing, Jack took a bite of his granola bar. He hadn't eaten for a few days, so the food felt weird and foreign in his hollow stomach. Jack pushed the thought out of his mind and began working on his homework. He was really falling behind in school, but so much had happened lately that made it hard to focus in class.

A figure approached him, so Jack looked up to see who it was.

"Oh, it's just you," Jack breathed a sigh of relief. He was expecting Logan or one of the other jocks, but not Sean.

Sean gave a friendly wave, and motioned for Jack to come inside. He then wrapped his arms around himself, faking a shiver.

"You want me to come inside because it's cold?" Jack asked, hoping he got the meaning of the motions right.

Sean nodded and offered him a hand to stand up.

"No thanks, Sean. I'm fine out here."

Frowning, Sean gestured back towards the school. He then made a couple of other movements, losing Jack in the process.

"What? I don't understand..."

"Jake! Jake Frost!" A woman yelled to Jack from the doors.

"Oh, I guess I'm being called," Jack sighed. Ever since coming to this school, he had learned to respond to the name 'Jake'. But the woman was the school counselor, so she must want something important. "I'll go see what she wants," he muttered, setting down his journal and half eaten granola bar.

Dread filling his stomach, Jack walked up to the counselor. "The principal wants you in her office," she told him.

He figured that it was something like that. "Okay," he sighed, letting her lead him to the office. He'd served detention a couple of times since coming to this school, but he hadn't been sent to the office. So this was something to look forward to.

Upon entering the office, he came face to face with the principal. She was a stout looking woman, with light blonde hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. "Take a seat," she instructed, gesturing to the single wooden chair in front of her desk.

Jack nervously did as she was told.

"Now, Jake-"

"It's Jack," he said quietly. This whole 'Jake' thing was really becoming a problem.

Her eyebrow twitched. "I don't think so. Now Jake, Mrs. Callahan told me about what happened in her classroom."

"It wasn't my fault, I-"

"I don't want any of your excuses, Jake. Now, I want you to stay after every day this week, serving for your improper behaviour."

Jack wanted to let out an exasperated groan. _Are all adults this impossible to deal with?!_

"You will stay after with Mrs. Callahan until 4:30. I want none of your sass or backtalk. Is that clear?" she questioned, her tone all business.

"Yes ma'am," Jack sighed reluctantly. He chose to just go along with it, since it was his choice to take the fall, after all.

"That will be all."

Jack immediately got up, ready to leave, but Mrs. Shivers stopped him again.

"Oh, and Jake?"

"Yes ma'am?" he asked, hand on the knob.

"I don't want anymore trouble from you." She gave him a hard stare, before dismissing him with a wave of her hand.

He exited the room, sighing, and knowing that no matter how hard he tried, Mondays would always be terrible.

Ω Ω Ω

Meanwhile, as Jack was being called in by the counselor, Sean made himself comfortable in the grass.

But he soon grew bored of waiting for the other teen, so he grabbed Jack's notebook and began flipping through the pages, hoping to entertain himself. He let out a silent chuckle as he noted the different doodles that Jack had drawn next to his schoolwork. There was a silly illustration of a cat riding the back of an owl, and a detailed drawing of a superhero labeled 'Jack', which Sandy thought wasn't half bad. He flipped a few more pages, and froze.

There, a folded letter was tucked away.

Sandy knew he shouldn't read it, since this was Jack's property, but curiosity got the better of him. Seeing as Jack wasn't back from whatever the counselor needed him for, Sean thought a quick peek wouldn't hurt.

He took out the worn letter and unfolded it, a picture falling out in the process. It was a small photograph of Jack next to a girl. It was clear they were in a hospital, and the girl was a sickly pale colour. Both smiled in the photo, but Jack looked like he would start crying at any moment. Sandy frowned. Who was this girl? On the back, the photograph was labeled with the date _November 3rd_.

Putting the photo aside, Sean focused his attention on the card. The greeting reading as _'Dear Emma'._ Uncertainty gnawed in his belly. This letter really seemed like a private matter, and he didn't really think that he should go snooping around like this. But curiosity killed the cat, as they say... or something like that. But since Sandy had already come this far, why not just read and see what the letter was all about?

He skimmed over it, just in case Jack came back and saw him reading it.

'_I'm so sorry Emma.'_

'_I wish there was something I could have done.'_

'_It's all my fault.'_

Sandy tore his eyes away from the letter, frown deepening. Who was Emma? Was she the girl in the photo? He folded the letter back up and put the picture safely back inside. Sandy then flipped to the next page, hoping to find out some more information about Emma, but it was back to the school notes. It seemed that Jack just stuck the letter in here without really thinking about it.

He heard the door open, and seeing Jack come out, Sandy panicked, shoving the letter inside his pocket. He quickly set the journal to the page that it was originally on, and tried to pretend like nothing happened.

Ω Ω Ω

"Hey Sandy," Jack said grimly as he approached. "I had to go to the principal's office." Sandy stared at him blankly before his look changed to one of concern. He guessed that Sean was trying to ask what happened...?

"I have detention for the rest of this week!" Jack tried to laugh it off, but the sound was broken so he soon stopped. "Nothing really though."

Sean's frown only deepened.

The bell then rang, announcing the end of lunch.

"Well, I gotta get to chemistry," Jack told him, trying to break the awkward silence. He supposed that until he got to know Sean better, then there would always be an awkward silence between them. _Well, here we go. Fourth period with Evan and Tina..._

Sean nodded.

"...Okay, well, I guess I'll see you in health class then," Jack told him, grabbing his notebook and half eaten granola bar, throwing his food in the trash. He wasn't very hungry anymore.

Jack turned around and started walking towards the school when a hand grabbed his arm. "What?" Jack questioned the shorter teen.

Sandy made some more movements as if saying 'let me walk you there'.

"No, no. That's okay. You don't have to walk me to class. I'll be okay," Jack shook the other's hand off of his arm. He didn't need anyone's help.

Sean's brow furrowed, and it looked like he wanted to argue if he could. But Jack was having none of that. "See you later," he said before finally leaving Sean and the awkward conversations with him behind.

On the way to his fourth period class, a group of jocks surrounded Jack. They were some of Logan's friends, and Jack dreaded whatever they wanted. _At least Logan's not with them..._

"Logan is still pissed at you for earlier," one of them said cockily, stepping forward from the circle they formed around Jack. Other students in the hall either ducked their heads and quickly walked away or paused to watch the encounter. Both types of people like that made Jack sick. "But he'll get you back later. For now, you'll deal with us," the guy–Scott or something– roughly shoved Jack into the lockers.

Jack winced in the pain from his shoulders as they made impact with the hard metal. He fixed Scott with a glare, but he and the other jocks only laughed at Jack's attempt to stand up for himself.

"You're such a freak, you know that? With your unnatural white hair. Did you dye it or something?" Scott continued, stalking up to Jack from where he stood rooted in place against the lockers. He tried taking a step back, but there was no space to escape to. "What? Cat got your tongue?" Scott asked and the others chuckled again. He suddenly kicked Jack in the leg, who fell to the ground with a gasp of pain. His journal was torn from his grip and thrown somewhere down the hall.

"Remember this, freak. We will fuck you up," Scott told him with a sneer, before leaving just as suddenly as he came. The other jocks disappeared with him. The students who had been watching quickly continued to their classes, ignoring Jack who clutched his leg in pain. But he was used to the watchers, as Jack called them, who only stood by and watched Jack take the abuse. He was used to no one helping him.

With a heavy sigh, Jack lifted himself up. He gritted his teeth and went to retrieve his notebook, which had been thrown in the opposite direction of his class. The hallway cleared up, and Jack cursed mentally as the bell rang. He was late to class. _Again._

He then began to short trip to chemistry, thankful that Sandy hadn't walked him to class. _If he had, then he might have gotten hurt too._ Jack couldn't bear that thought. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if another person got hurt because of him.

Jack finally arrived to his chemistry class, nearly five minutes late. "Jake? Where were you?" his teacher, Mr. Orr, asked.

"The counselor wanted to talk to me," Jack lied, ignoring the wrong name he was called. Sure, the counselor had talked to him, just not right then.

"Alright, take your seat. I won't mark you late." Jack liked his teacher for this reason.

Finally sitting down, Jack rested his head on the lab table. He felt light headed, and his stomach ached from the lack of food. He also noticed Tina and Evan's gaze on him. Mr. Orr gave his class directions for a lab, and let the class begin. His two 'friends' walked up to him.

"Are you okay, Jack?" Evan asked.

"You don't look so good," Tina added. Worry was clear in both their voices.

"I'm fine," Jack gritted out. He didn't need their pity or concern. He didn't want it.

"Anyways, thanks for what you did with the water bottle thing earlier..." Evan started, but Jack interrupted him.

"It's okay."

Evan frowned. "Well, sorry about it anyways."

Jack slammed his head down on the desk. The impact made his head hurt, but it was a good distraction from everything else that was happening. "It doesn't matter."

Tina and Evan shared a worried look with each other, but Jack ignored them. He didn't care for them much anymore.


	6. Chapter 6: Jake or Jack?

**A/N: These Monday updates just keep getting later and later, eh? :/**

**More confrontation with Jack's mom!**

* * *

**Chapter 6: Jake or Jack?**

"What's up with you?" Evan asked as Jack's head was still lying on top of his desk.

_Why does he always ask so many questions? _Jack groaned in response.

"Jack? Are you okay?" Tina asked in a worried tone. Then again, Tina was always sounding worried.

Jack winced in pain. Out of nowhere, a massive headache decided to attack him. Jack gripped his white locks as his head felt like it was being split open. "Head..." Jack whimpered. He had never had a migraine this bad before.

Tina blinked in confusion. "What?"

"...Hurts," Jack replied, turning his head to the side to glance up at his so called friends.

"Are you okay?" Tina repeated, gripping Jack's extended forearm for comfort.

"And stomach..." His stomach had been growling from the lack of food earlier, but now it only ached with a dull throb. The half granola bar had done nothing to appease his hunger.

Tina glanced to Evan, worried, and said something that Jack didn't catch. The fluorescent lighting seemed much too bright, and Jack squinted his eyes in pain. There was a ringing in his ears, growing in volume with each passing second as Jack quickly covered his ears with a groan. Eventually the ringing subsided, and his hearing came back to him.

"...be you should go to the nurse, Jack." Tina's voice came into focus.

"No, I can't," he mumbled.

"Why not?" Evan questioned.

Jack babbled on. "Stomach hurts. She'd ask questions."

"Wait, what?"

"Jack, just go to the nurse!" Evan nearly yelled from concern.

"I-" Jack paused. "Food. Do you have any?" His mind immediately went to food after his stomach growled.

"Um, I think I have some crackers in my bag," Tooth said. Her tone was unsure as she glanced at Jack worriedly.

Evan leaned down to Jack's eye level, resting his elbows on Jack's desk. "We just had lunch, why are you hungry?"

"Can I..." Jack trailed off, zoning out for a moment. "Can I have th-them?"

_No, Jack. You can't eat._

_Yes I can. I didn't have anything yesterday and only half a granola bar today._

"Yeah, just let me get them," Tina murmured as she went back to her desk and dug through her bag. She walked back to his desk with a small bag of crackers. "Here you go," she said, holding them out for Jack.

_Don't take it._

_Just eat it. You can't even think straight right now, you need food. Just eat them._

Jack ignored the conflicting voices as he grabbed the small package and opened it. He pulled out a cracker, slowly taking a bite. "Ughh," he mumbled, groaning again.

"What is your problem?" Evan asked, irritation leaking into his voice.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out Evan's rather annoying voice. His head throbbed in protest to the noise, and Jack ate three more crackers. His head gradually stopped spinning, and everything came back into focus. "Thanks Tina," Jack sighed, handing the bag back to her.

"No problem." Tina flashed Jack an anxious smile. "But what was that about?"

"I-um," Jack searched his mind for an excuse, but came up with nothing. "Please just forget about it. Let's just focus on the lab."

"Alright then," Evan said, going to get the lab equipment. He was more than ready to get past this.

Although Jack didn't really care for Evan or Tina's company much anymore, they were in many of his classes, and it would be impossible to avoid them. Besides, he wouldn't have to sit alone in those classes. Jack was kinda getting tired of that.

Evan came back with safety goggles and an erlenmeyer flask filled with some kind of base. Each of the three put on their respective goggles, and got to work on the lab. His stomach began to hurt again, but Jack pushed it out of his mind and tried to focus on his school work for once. That way, he wouldn't have to talk to Tina or Evan.

Tina wrote down the results as Jack and Evan added a clear acid to the base. Everything was going fine until a sharp pain shot through Jack's entire body, and he jolted from the shock, dropping the vial with the acid. The test tube shattered on the floor with a sharp crash, the acid spreading all over the tile floor.

"Woah, Jake, are you okay?" his teacher asked as he came over to assess the damage. The other students began whispering to each other, spreading stupid rumours about how dumb Jake was.

"Uh- I'm fine," Jack told his teacher as the man began to clean up the mess.

"Do you need to go to the nurse? Are you okay?" Mr. Orr asked him seriously.

"I'm fine..." Jack tried to say more, but another wave of nausea swept through him, leaving Jack clutching the lab table for support.

"I think you should go to the nurse's office," his teacher told him, dumping the glass shards in the trash can. Apparently he had noticed something off with Jack.

"We can take him to the nurse," Tina offered immediately.

"Yeah. Come on, Jack." Evan prodded his friend, trying to get him to stand.

Jack merely nodded numbly and stood, letting his friends guide him out of the room, his classmates whispering as they left. It was only when they were halfway to the nurse did Jack realise what was happening. "Guys, no. I can't go."

"Huh? What?" Tina questioned in confusion.

"I don't want to go to the nurse," Jack told them, yanking his arms from their grips.

"Look, I don't care if you don't want to," Evan said seriously, taking a step towards Jack. "You look like you're about to throw up. We're taking you to the nurse."

He realised that neither of them were going to back down, so Jack relented with a sigh. Tina and Evan grabbed his arms again, and led him to the office as though Jack couldn't walk by himself. He was sort of annoyed by that, but he did appreciate the help. Pain still shot through his body with every step, and Jack winced from his obvious discomfort. After a few more moments of walking, they reached the office, Tina pulling the door open.

"Can I help you?" A woman with short blonde hair asked from her desk.

Tina and Evan pulled Jack in the room as Tina spoke. "Jack isn't feeling well, so Mr. Orr told us to take him here."

The nurse glanced over Jack's form with scrutiny, and Jack tried not to shy away from her intimidating gaze. "Come here and sit down," she finally spoke, gesturing to the medical bed opposite of her desk. Jack nearly sighed in relief; his legs felt ready to give way at any second. He shuffled over to the examination bed, hopping on the white paper sheet, while Tina and Evan moved to sit in the chairs in front of the nurse's desk.

"How are you feeling, Jack?" the nurse asked, and Jack read her nameplate as 'Ms. Paint'.

"Not well," Jack admitted slowly.

"You don't know what's wrong?" Ms. Paint asked as she pulled out a clipboard and began jotting things down.

_Well of course I do. But I'm not telling you._ Jack shook his head, regretting the sudden movement which sent the room spinning.

Ms. Paint pulled out a thermometer, checking Jack's temperature through his ear. "No fever," she spoke aloud. "Does your throat hurt?"

Jack shook his head again. Tina and Evan sent him worried glances. Ms. Paint continued asking Jack a number of customary questions before she finally got to the one he had been dreading. "What have you eaten today?"

He looks to Evan and Tooth, who were still sitting there, listening to everything. "Um, a granola bar and..." _Should I lie?_ Jack wondered. _I can't tell her I've only eaten half a granola bar and some crackers. Not with both Evan and Tina sitting there._ Jack glanced over to them once again.

Ms. Paint noticed this time and got the idea. "You two should go back to class. I can take it from here."

"Can't we stay?" pleaded Tooth.

"You need to go back to class," the nurse repeated. Tina and Evan both reluctantly got up before exiting the room. Ms. Paint's attention was on him once again. "What have you eaten today?" she repeated her question from earlier.

"Half a granola bar and like four crackers..."

Ms. Paint made a face of disapproval. "You need to eat more than that to have energy to make it through the day."

Jack stayed quiet.

With a sigh, Ms. Paint moved on to the next question. "What did you eat yesterday?"

There's an awkward silence as Jack tried to think of an answer. The room remained quiet for a few seconds before he answered. "Uh... an apple," he lied. The nurse eyed him warily, and Jack could tell that she didn't fully believe him.

"Is that it?"

He nodded in response.

"Alright, then do you mind if I check your weight?" she asked.

"I-I'd rather not," Jack replied cautiously.

She frowned. "What's your name again? Jack, right?"

"Yeah." He idly thought that this was the first time a teacher or adult at this school had actually gotten his name right.

She wrote down a few more notes. "Is that how much you normally eat?"

Jack kept quiet; his silence confirming her question.

"What's your full name, dear? I'm going to look you up in the school system," Ms. Paint told him, standing and walking over to her desk.

"Jack Overland Frost."

"Okay, hang on and let me look you up." She sat there in front of her computer screen, clacking away on the noisy keyboard. "_Jake_ Overland Frost?" she asked, reading his file with a raise of her brow.

_Really. So my mom DID put me in as Jake Overland Frost? _"I guess," Jack replied with a shrug. It shouldn't have surprised him that his mom had done that, he was sort of expecting it, after all. _At least now I know why all my teachers keep getting my name wrong._

"It says you transferred here about two weeks ago?" Ms. Paint continued, scrolling through his file. Jack nodded blankly. "You don't have anything listed here for illnesses or disorders. And it says your not taking any extra medications, is that correct?"

"I guess."

"It says that your guardian won't let me give you any painkillers or anything. Sorry about that... Do you want me to call your guardian to come pick you up?" She turned to Jack with a serious expression.

"I- I have to stay for detention after school."

"Well, you're just going to have to make it up some other time. I can't allow you to stay at school like this."

"I only have three classes left, and then detention. I can make it through the end of the day." Jack tried to make his voice steady in order to be believable.

Ms. Paint gave him a worried stare. "What time does your detention end?"

_I guess there's no point in lying to her anymore._ "5:30."

The nurse grimaced. "I can't let you stay that long. You need to be home resting and getting some food in your belly. I'm going to call your guardian listed on here. Who is it?"

"My mom..." Jack felt dread building up in him at the thought of his mom having to come pick him up early.

"Okay. Just a moment," she said as she took phone and dialed the number on the screen. "Hello? Are you the guardian of Jake Frost?"

Jack strained his ears, though he supposed it wasn't really necessary since his mom was speaking obnoxiously loud.

_"His name is Jack,"_ came his mom's harsh reply.

Ms. Paint's expression changed to one of confusion. "Oh... Sorry."

_"What do you want?"_

The nurse glanced in Jack's direction. "Well, he's not feeling well. I can't allow him to stay the rest of the day. Can you come pick him up?"

There's a dry laugh on the other end of the phone. _"Wow. Just give the brat a handful of painkillers or something."_

"Ma'am, you put down that you don't want me to give him any medici-"

_"Just give it to him. I just said you could!" _Jack and the nurse both flinched as his mother rose her voice.

"I'm not allowed to just do that, I'm sorry," Ms. Paint replied in a strained voice. "Can you come pick your son up?"

_"He'll survive, I'm busy!"_

Ms. Paint narrowed her eyes. "With all due respect ma'am, I am the school nurse, and I know that Jack isn't fit to be here. He's really bad right now, and-"

_"FINE! I'll pick the damn pest up!"_

A bang alerted Jack to the fact that his mom had hung up. "She's on her way now," the nurse told him rather awkwardly. Jack nodded in understanding. They sat there for another moment in an uncomfortable silence before Ms. Paint spoke again. "Why don't you go get your things?"

Jack nodded again, slowly getting up from the examination chair, the paper sheet crinkling under his movements. On unsteady feet, Jack wobbled towards his chemistry class, where he was met with a worried Tina and Evan.

"Jack! Are you alright?" Tina exclaimed, rushing up to the door as he entered.

He ignored her in favour of going to his desk and grabbing his backpack. He then went to Mr. Orr's desk, telling his teacher: "My mom is coming to pick me up from school."

"I understand. You didn't look well in class today," his teacher replied with a sad smile. "Feel better, Jake."

Jack ignored the misuse of his name, but recalled how his mom had carelessly put him in the school system as Jake. _Thanks, mom. I really feel the love._

"So you're leaving?" Evan's voice sounded behind him, and Jack turned to see Tina and Evan standing there.

Jack gave a curt nod. He was feeling really tired and sick at the moment, and he really didn't want to deal with these two.

"Feel better, Jack," Tina nearly whispered.

Nodding, Jack adjusted his backpack and was out the room. He slowed his pace in the hallway as all the movement had begun to make his head hurt again. Jack entered the nurse's office, where Ms. Paint sat at her desk typing away. Unsure what to do, Jack moved back towards the examination bed and crawled on top of it. Ms. Paint continued typing, the random clicking of keys being the only noise in the otherwise silent room.

Eventually Ms. Paint turned to Jack. "I don't have any food, but would you like some water? It'd be good for you."

"Sure," Jack replied. He was grateful for her kindness, even though she did ask him too many questions earlier. _At least I get to go home now,_ Jack thought, but then, that might not be the best option. His mom was most likely pissed for having to come pick Jack up from school early. _Crap..._

Ms. Paint handed Jack a paper cup of water, and although Jack wondered when she had gotten it, he smiled gratefully. After taking several sips, the office door flew open with a bang as Jack's mom entered. Jack noticed that she actually looked presentable, dressed in a plain black skirt with a matching blazer and blue blouse. She looked like his old mom again, before she had started drinking, but Jack knew better than to think that she was back.

He was proved right when Jack was blatantly ignored as his mom walked up to Ms. Paint's desk. "Sorry you had to deal with him," she told the nurse in an annoyed tone.

Ms. Paint gave a forced smile. "Not at all. I just hope he feels better." She paused, seeming to consider something. "But we will have to schedule a meeting to discuss his current state."

Jack felt his heart drop. That meant the nurse was going to want to tell his mom _everything._ About how Jack barely ate and was feeling sick to his stomach because of it.

His mother shot Jack a deadly glare. "What did you do?"

"Oh, no no," Ms. Paint quickly said, standing up from her desk to be on equal level with Jack's mom. "We just need to talk about him."

"Fine. Later then," his mom decided. "Let's go, Jack." And with that, she was already heading towards the door.

Jack slowly stood up, head throbbing and feeling nauseous. He struggled to walk straight, and when they got to the car, Jack collapsed onto his seat with a pained groan. It was only a few seconds after his mom had gotten into the car when the yelling started.

"You're always causing problems Jack!" she screeched, pulling out of the parking lot with jerky movements.

Jack gripped the safety handle in fear of his mother's driving. She quickly sped down the street, carelessly skipping stop signs and driving way over the speed limit. _Where are the cops when you need them?_

"You made me leave my job interview to pick you up from school because 'you don't feel well'," she said the last part in a high pitched and annoying voice.

"I'm sorry..." Jack whispered. He had never meant for this to happen.

"You damn well should be! You ungrateful brat," she hissed.

Jack's heart twisted in agony. No matter how many times his mother said things like this, it would always hurt. The pain inflicted by her words was more painful than the ringing in his head or the throbbing in his stomach. Jack tried to sink into his chair and disappear.

"It should have been you..." she trailed off, but Jack knew immediately what she was talking about.

It made him feel even worse that he agreed with what she said.

The rest of the ride home was filled with tense silence, but it eventually ended as she pulled into their driveway. Jack stared at his rundown-looking home, noting that if it was cleaned up properly, then it would be a very nice little house. But with all of his family problems, the house's curb appeal was the least of their worries.

His mother got out of the car, slamming the door shut behind her. Jack winced, but opened his own door and followed her inside the house. She took off her heels, and headed down the hall towards her bedroom. With the slam of her bedroom door, Jack was alone in the living room.

Jack headed towards the kitchen with a sigh. He knew that he shouldn't eat, but his stomach was literally going to devour itself if he didn't eat anything soon. He grabbed a single red apple, taking small bites to make it last as he headed to his bedroom. Jack hopped on his bed, immediately regretting his decision to do so as the room spins once more. Once his vision was clear again, Jack pulled out his notebook to continue working on his homework from earlier.

After a few minutes, Jack grew tired of solving math problems and opted for flipping idly through the pages. His fingers froze when he realised that something was missing.

Jack began frantically flipping through the sheets of paper, concern raising inside him when each one turned up empty. He then picked his journal up by the spine, trying to dump any loose contents on his bed. When nothing left his notebook, Jack realised with a wave of alarm that his letter was missing.


	7. Chapter 7: Too Tired to Deal

**A/N: Hello, everyone. I hope you all have had a great Monday.**

**This chapter title came to me because it's exactly how I'm feeling; too tired to deal with anything. **

**Regardless, enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter 7: Too Tired to Deal**

Jack jumped off his bed, immediately going to his backpack and dumping everything out. "Where is it, where is it?" his voice rose in panic as he sifted through the papers that came out of his bag. He had been hoping that it had just fallen out of his journal and into the bottom of his backpack, but as he sorted through the last of his papers, his letter was still nowhere to be found. Not only was that gone, but the picture of him and Emma was missing as well.

Sitting on his floor, Jack thought back to earlier that day. _Is it in my locker? Or did I leave it by the tree at lunch? Maybe it came out of my notebook then. What if someone read it?_ He sincerely hoped not. All of this panic caused his breathing to speed up, and Jack felt like he couldn't get enough air. His mind was spinning, exacerbating his headache which had only just started to go away. What would he do if someone read it? That was for him and Emma, no one else!

A loud voice interrupted Jack from his racing thoughts. "Jack! I'm leaving!" his mom yelled from down the hall. He heard the opening and shutting of his front door, and the car start up and drive away, so he knew that he was home alone.

Everything quieted down after that. His breathing was back to normal, and although his head still hurt, the room was no longer spinning. Jack took that as a good sign. His eyes shifted over to his desk, where a picture of Emma sat in a plain frame. Jack got up, taking a seat at his desk as he rested his head on the cool wooden surface with a sigh. He stared at the photo of Emma, where she was in a grassy field, holding out a flower. Her shoulder-length brown hair was blown in every direction from the breeze that windy spring morning. Her light brown eyes were shining and so full of life. Her skin was tan, making her freckles blend into the darker skin tone. That picture was taken the spring that she got sick, right before her health declined.

Everything about her appearance had changed after that. Her hair became thin as it fell out from the treatment, her eyes dulled with the seriousness of her illness, and her skin took on a sickly pale colour.

Jack tried not to think about that time too much, so instead, he focused on how Emma looked like a miniature version of his mother. His mom shared her brown hair and eyes, minus the freckles, only looking older and more mature. Jack wondered if Emma had grown up, that she might have looked like his mom now.

Jack on the other hand, looked nothing like his mother or sister. His hair was an odd, but natural white with bright blue eyes. Sometimes, when the three of them had gone out together, people would ask if Jack was related to them. He always wondered why he looked so different from his family. Was it from his dad's side? He never really knew his dad, much less seen a picture of him, so Jack wouldn't know. After all, his parents got divorced about a month before Emma was even born.

His mom never kept any pictures of his dad around the house. Apparently it was a messy divorce.

But the more Jack thought about this, the more he wanted to know about his dad. What did he look like? Why did he divorce his mom? Why did he leave them right before Emma was born? What was he like?

The only things he ever heard about his dad were from his mom, when she was drunk and angry. She would slur how terrible of a husband he was, and how she never should have married him in the first place. It was a completely one-sided description.

"Maybe there's a picture of him in mom's room..." Jack wondered aloud. Since his mom was out, now was the perfect chance to check. His stomach and head still hurt though, and all of that panicked searching earlier didn't help.

Jack moved from his desk to the bathroom down the hall, searching through the medicine cabinet for something to ease his pain. He found a bottle of tylenol and took some, using the sink water to wash it down. He sighed in relief, knowing that it would help lessen his headache. His stomach growled, but Jack knew that he couldn't eat anything, especially since he had had an apple earlier.

Now with nothing else to do, Jack pondered if he should check his mom's room for a picture of his dad. She wouldn't be very happy if she found him in there, but she was out right now, and probably wouldn't be back for awhile. Besides, Jack had been wondering about his dad for years... Making up his mind, he left the washroom and headed towards his mother's bedroom.

When he entered the room, he wasn't surprised by the mess inside. Clothes were strewn throughout the space, covering the entire floor and bed. The bed itself was unmade, with the covers wrinkled and pillows scattered. With a sigh, Jack maneuvered through the piles of clothes and shoes, heading towards the closet.

As expected, no pictures of his dad hung on the walls. Though the ones of Jack had been taken down, the photos of Emma remained. He rolled his eyes. That was the kind of behaviour that he had learned to expect from his mom.

He pulled open the double closet doors, and flicked on the light. Built in storage units lined the walk in closet, and each shelf was filled with boxes and shoes. Jack started by taking a shoebox and opening it. It was filled with papers, and upon taking a closer look, Jack noticed that they were bills. Emma's medical bills. He quickly shut the box and put it away. He didn't want to look through those.

Jack then grabbed another box, and sifted through the contents. Nothing in there about his father. He continued looking through the boxes for the next hour, until he reached a box further in the closet. Inside were two books, one labeled 'Jack', the other 'Emma'. He opened the one with his sister's name on it, noting that it was a photo album. The first picture of Emma is in the hospital with his mom, when she was first born. A younger Jack stands in the background, though no father figure is present. The next pictures follow Emma as she grew up: from her second birthday where they played in a kiddie pool, to some bluebonnet pictures in a field in Texas, to her seventh birthday party at the park. There were no more pictures after that, because Emma had gotten sick not long after she turned seven. Apparently his mom didn't want to put a sick girl in the photo album.

He closed Emma's album, and opened his instead. He expected it to be like Emma's, where the photos followed her through her life. Jack was wrong. There was only one photo of him inside. _Of course there's only one of me._ He knew that his mom barely wanted reminders of him around. Jack rolled his eyes and took a closer look at the photo.

In the picture, Jack was on the shoulders of a man at an amusement park or something. Jack looked young, maybe three or so, and the man looked to be around 25. The man had sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. _Is that my dad?_ Jack wondered, but thought against it.

Sure, the eyes were similar to his own, but that blond hair? Definitely not. The man must have been a relative from his mom's side or something.

Sighing, Jack shut the mostly empty album, ready to call it quits. After putting the albums and boxes away, Jack headed out to the washroom, where he took a long, cold shower. The cold water felt very refreshing on his pale, heated skin. It wasn't long though before the dam broke behind his eyelids. Jack tried to ignore the tears that fell, and convinced himself that they were part of the water that rushed over him. So what if his mom got rid of nearly every picture of him? It shouldn't really matter.

He turned off the faucet over half an hour later, and dried off with a sigh. "So much for finding out how my dad looks," he said aloud to the empty room. He wanted to go to the kitchen and eat something, but decided against it. Jack was too tired to deal with anything at the moment.

Instead, he headed towards his room and collapsed on his bed with a sigh.

Ω Ω Ω

A beeping startled Jack from his sleep, and he turned to shut off his alarm. He groaned. His stomach felt like it was eating itself, and the constant growling had kept him up half the night. "Do I have to go to school today?" he asked himself in despair, already knowing the answer.

"Ugh. Of course I do. Mom won't want to deal with me all day and I have detention to make up for," he answered aloud to the otherwise silent room.

With the small amount of energy he had, Jack pushed himself off the bed. He dragged his feet over to his dresser, digging through the drawers to find something clean enough to wear. He pulled out a black t-shirt, faded jeans, quickly changing into them and slipping on a pair of blue vans. Now fully clothed, Jack begrudgingly went to the washroom.

"Ugh," Jack complained, looking at his reflection in the mirror. He had dark bags under his blue eyes, which had dulled from the lack of sleep. He brought his hands up to try and tame that pale white mess of hair on his head, and noticed the marks on his arms. There were some new bruises on his forearms from being shoved into the lockers the previous day. "I need to wear a hoodie today..."

Jack then grabbed his toothbrush, squeezing a bit of paste on it before beginning to brush his teeth. When he was done, Jack backtracked to his room, grabbing his dark blue sweatshirt and pulling it on. He moved slowly to the living room, noting from the silence that his mom was still asleep. No surprise there.

He gave breakfast a brief thought as his stomach growled, and decided it would be okay to eat something. After all, Jack didn't want to end up in that nosy nurse's office again. He entered the kitchen, grabbing a single slice of white bread for breakfast and an orange for lunch. Once he had eaten the bread, Jack stuffed the orange in his backpack and was out the door.

Jack was actually very glad that he brought his sweatshirt, because the morning air was freezing. The lawns and roofs of neighbouring houses were whitened with a touch of frost, giving promise for more snowy days to come. Jack shivered, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and began the walk to school.

Sometimes, on rare occasions, his mom would drive him to school. But that was only when she woke up early enough or when she wasn't bending over the toilet with a hangover. Either way, it didn't seem like she cared enough to bring Jack to school, so he opted for walking. It was slowly becoming the norm.

Though he really wished that his mom could have taken him today. It was freezing outside, and Jack could see his breath visible in little puffs. His stomach still hurt, despite the food, and Jack sighed from exhaustion. It took him thirty minutes to walk, even though he only lived a walking distance of twenty minutes from the school. It was difficult for him to walk and act normally when his stomach was killing him.

When Jack arrived at school, he surprisingly had time to spare. His first class didn't start until 7:50, but it was only 7:42. Jack quickly used his extra time to go to his locker and check for his letter.

It wasn't there.

Jack felt his heart drop. He had been praying that maybe, just _maybe_, it was in his locker. But now that theory was out. _Maybe Sean found it?_ Although he was hoping that Sean did find it so he could get his letter back, he also really didn't want the other to read it. With a feeling of dread, Jack decided to check with Sean later that day.

The warning bell rang, signalling for students to go to class, but they still had an extra two minutes before they would be counted late. Sighing, Jack shut his locker and headed towards Ms. Day's math class. He really hated having math first period, especially since he shared it with Evan. The late bell rang after Jack had entered the classroom, and he let a brief smile come across his face. _Yes! No tardy this morning!_ His smile faded when Evan gave him a worried look, and Jack immediately knew that Evan was going to ask about yesterday. Jack quickly took his seat as the teacher yelled for attention.

"Psst!" Evan whispered none-too-quietly from his right. "Jack!"

He wanted to ignore the other, but decided just to face up with it. He turned to Evan with tired eyes, and asked in an equally tired voice: "What?"

"Are you okay after yesterday?" Evan's light green eyes shone with concern.

Jack nodded, not trusting his voice at the moment.

Evan wasn't satisfied with Jack's noncommittal answer. "What happened?"

Swallowing, Jack cleared his throat. "My mom picked me up yesterday after you guys left."

"Oh..." He looked disheartened. "Well why did the nurse make us leave then?"

Jack shrugged. He knew, he just didn't want to tell.

"How are you feeling now?" Evan asked.

Jack got a weird feeling in his stomach. Evan was asking so many questions, seeming very concerned with Jack. _Is this what it feels like to be cared about...?_ Jack blinked, trying to stop the tears before they made an appearance. "Better."

Evan sighed with relief, sitting back in his chair. "That's good. Are you coming to Tina's house after school to work on the cancer project?"

Jack wanted to vomit when Evan mentioned the "c" word, but he ignored the feeling and swallowed again. "...Yeah."

Ω Ω Ω

The slow and audible ticking of the clock reminded Jack how late he was.

He was currently sitting in Mrs. Callahan's classroom, waiting for his detention to end. He was supposed to stay until 4:30, but since Jack missed yesterday's detention, he had to stay even later. Not only that, but he forgot to tell Evan and Tina about his detention. _They're probably waiting for me... _It was already 4:37, after all.

Then again, a small part of him was hoping that they had already started working on the project, so he could miss part of their leukemia research. He really didn't think that he could handle that again.

Jack glanced to his teacher's desk, where Mrs. Callahan sat, grading papers. As if sensing his eyes on her, she looked up sharply, and gave Jack a narrowed look. Jack nearly flinched and looked away quickly. He continued to sit there, having already finished his homework. Finally, at 4:45, Mrs. Callahan dismissed him.

"Don't you dare be late to my class again," she warned.

Jack nodded seriously. "I'll try!" he exclaimed before he was out the door. Tina's house wasn't very far–it would probably only be a fifteen minute walk or so. With the time in mind, Jack hurried out of the school, suppressing a shiver from the bitter cold weather. Dark clouds had formed sometime throughout the day, promising a storm at any moment. Jack picked up his pace, desperate to beat the storm and get out of the cold. Still, Jack wasn't looking forward to working on their project.

A good ten minutes of speed walking later, Jack arrived at Tina's house, out of breath. He knocked, and Mrs. Fisher answered. She gave Jack a kind smile, telling him that the others were in Tina's bedroom, and that she'd bring him a cup of cocoa.

"That'd be great, thanks," Jack replied with a small smile of his own. The day had really been exhausting, and hot chocolate sounded pretty fricken great at the moment.

After taking off his shoes, Jack ascended the stairs up to Tina's room. He hesitated outside the door, hearing voices within.

_"He said he'd be here." _A high pitched voice sighed. Tina.

_"Yeah. He told me in math, too," _a lower voice added. Evan.

"Well, we should–" Tina stopped as Jack opened the door.

"Jack! We were just wondering where you were," North told him. Sean nodded in agreement.

"Where were you, snowball head?" Evan asked, and both Tina and Jack winced from the horrible nickname.

"Sorry guys. I had detention after school, and Mrs. Callahan made me stay even later to make up some time from yesterday," Jack said, setting his bag down and plopping down on the open beanbag chair.

"It's fine," Tina reassured him with a smile. "It sucks that you had detention though."

"Yeah, but don't worry," Evan commented. "We haven't even started working yet."

Jack's face fell a bit, and he gulped. No one else seemed to notice though. "Heh, okay... let's start then," Jack said with fake enthusiasm.

Tina's group and Nathan's group worked on opposite sides of the room, researching and planning out their triboard. Mrs. Fisher came in a few minutes later, handing Jack a large mug of sweet smelling cocoa. He thanked her with a genuine smile, glad for the brief distraction from their cancer research. Everyone continued working, Jack noticing Sean shooting him some nervous glances. He wondered what was up with the other, but shrugged it off. _Oh, I never did ask him about my letter..._ Jack realised after a few more glances from the other. _I'll need to do that soon._

After another twenty minutes of working, both groups were tired and in need of a break. Sean immediately stood and shuffled towards Jack. "What's up, Sean?" Jack asked, though he knew he wouldn't get a verbal reply.

Instead, Sandy reached into his pocket, and pulled out a slightly wrinkled piece of paper.

"Wha–" Jack paused when he realised what it was. "How... how did you get that?" Sandy was about to sign a response before Jack cut in again. "You didn't read it, did you?" his voice shook from fear, raising slightly in panic.

"What's going on?" Evan asked, walking over to where the two of them were.

Jack ignored him and focused on Sandy. "Sean, where did you get this?" In response, Jack got some rushed sign language. "What?" he questioned, not able to understand the other. "What is he saying?" Jack asked, turning to Evan and addressing him for the first time since he'd joined them.

Sandy repeated his sign, this time to Evan. "He said, 'I found it'," Evan interpreted, only able to read sign language after being long time friends with Sean.

Jack grabbed the letter, gripping it tightly. "Where? Did you read it?"

Sean raised his right hand, bringing his first two fingers and thumb together quickly. "No," Evan answered for Sean.

Sighing in relief, Jack stuffed the letter in his binder and shut it, returning the folder to his backpack. He was going to make sure that he wouldn't lose it ever again. Sean and Evan stood awkwardly around him, while Tina and North sat on the bed. No one was quite sure what to say after seeing Jack's panicked reaction.

Evan was the first to speak, clearing his throat. "So, uh, what is that paper?"

"Nothing," Jack replied in a blank tone. "It's nothing."

"Are you hiding it from us or something?" Evan asked, overcoming the awkwardness by being abrasive.

"It's nothing," Jack said in more of a hiss than a response. "It's personal." Evan eyed Jack suspiciously for another moment, the awkward silence back once more. "Forget it," Jack sighed, waving a hand dismissively in the air. He was really too tired to deal with something like this. "Let's just keep working."


End file.
